ExtractionOLD
by gananas
Summary: While Cobb stays in California, the story of the rest of the team continues. You see the past, present, and future of the comrades still in the business. When Arthur's sister-in-law shows up unexpectedly in Paris, drama unfolds.
1. An End to the Beginning

**This is a series that my friend and I came up with after seeing Inception for the second time last summer. Then we saw it a _third _time and took extensive notes.  
I honestly love writing it and I hope that you guy like it too (: **

**This chapter is slightly anticlimactic, but I'm hoping the next one is more exciting. **

**OH, Disclaimer. : I don't own Inception, Arthur, Ariadne, Eames, Cobb, James, Phillipa, Mal. But I DO own: Joe, Ellen, Tom, Karen Petrelli, Arthur Petrelli SR., William Petrelli, Fancy Petrelli, Elizabeth Petrelli, Aemelia Darling, Leonardo, The Perelli Manor, and anything else that wasn't in the movie at all.**

**enjoy!**

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The doorbell rang as Cobb turned around. His eyes landed on a small silver object on the table, instead of the door which was slowly opening. As it fell to the ground, Cobb smiled. He leaned down and picked the top off the hardwood and placed it in his pocket. At last, reality was achieved.

James and Phillipa were clinging to their father's legs, with no intention of letting go. "Come in," he called down the hall, with just as much desire to hold on to his children. As the sun flooded down the hall, the silhouettes of Cobb's three best friends appeared.

Eames stood center, having clearly pushed Arthur out of the way. He was the best of his kind. Arthur was rubbing his shoulder, glaring at the back of his counterpart's head. The newest of the group was grinning at the both of them, tugging at the edge of her scarf. Making their way past the pictures and paintings on the walls, they arrived at the tip of the dark wooden table.

Clearing his throat, Cobb crouched down to his children. "Why don't you ask Grandpa where those toys I brought you are, huh guys? I need to talk to my friends." They both let his legs go, but stayed in the room. James tugged at Dom's pants.

"Daddy, who are they?" he asked, scratching his head. Phillipa nodded enthusiastically beside him.

"Well," Cobb started, slowly standing back up. "This, James and Phillipa, is your Uncle Arthur. You remember him, of cou…" He was cut off by them rushing off to hug his best friend. Arthur immediately dropped to his knees, embracing them in a hug. Ariadne watched him, surprised by the way he acted around the kids.

"And I'm your Uncle Eames. Nice to see you again. I haven't seen you, dear," he pointed to Phillipa, "since your brother was born. You were a wee girl at the time." She looked up from Arthur's arms and smiled, making no move to leave him. A simple wave was all he received. Arthur smirked at Eames, finally one-upping him.

Ariadne shrunk back against the wall, unsure of where she fit into this. She tripped over her shoelace and nearly fell to the ground trying to keep her balance. The entire room turned to her. "And, you two get to meet your Aunt Ariadne. Go on, say hi." Cobb encouraged the children to release Arthur's clean-cut vest and approach Ariadne.

"Hi."

Ariadne wasn't sure how to take this. When she had first met the team, she didn't know how they'd feel about her and never in her wildest dream did she expect to be treated as family. But now, looking at Cobb's kids, a wave of emotion hit her. Maybe if they had been two children off the street, or even someone related to her, it wouldn't have been so overwhelming, but after hearing of the lengths her friend had gone to just to be with them, she felt a closeness to these kids.

"Hey guys," Ariadne said, wondering how she was supposed to know what to say. She was suddenly jealous of Arthur and his way with them. How could someone who showed so little emotion be so good with kids?

She looked over to him, hoping for a sign of what else to say or do with Phillipa and James. Still leaning back on his expensive shoes, his eyes met hers. A smile played on his lips, the same he gave her after the kiss.

_The Kiss. _Ariadne cursed her self. Was it _the _kiss or just _a_ kiss? No, she decided. It shouldn't even count as a kiss. It was a dream, for Pete's sake. She was overreacting. Arthur probably didn't even remember that it happened, nor cared that it did. Maybe he actually was trying to get the projections to look away from them. Figures.

But then why did it feel so real? Before she could argue with herself anymore, she looked back down. "You have very pretty…hair. You must get it from your father." Eames snorted.

"I didn't know you felt so passionate about Cobb's hair, darling," he said, laughing at the end. Arthur smiled and pushed himself off the ground. He brushed the invisible dust off his vest. Ariadne watched his forehead crinkle, his eyes light up. This was the most relaxed she had ever seen him.

"Not as much as you are," she replied with a flip of the hair. Eames rolled his eyes and muttered something about being clever.

"Hey, if you guys are thirsty or anything, go ahead and get something from the fridge, I'm sure it's stocked. I'll be right back." Ariadne was glad she didn't have to think of something else to say as Cobb took James and Phillipa's hands and lead them into the other room. After being asleep for ten hours (not to mention the long line through the airport and the drive over), she was ready for a drink. She walked into the kitchen. It was weird to be in here, in this house, for what was in actuality the first time, though she'd seen it inside Cobb's head on multiple occasions. Her hands brushed the counter tops. Every detail was exactly as it had been in limbo.

"Here, let me help you." She turned, almost running into Arthur. "I know where everything is. Anything for you, Eames?" He caught Ariadne's eye for a moment before passing her. His shoulder pushed hers, causing her to stumble. Her heart beat sped up a fraction of a second. When he looked back, smiled, and put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Oh, sorry Ariadne," was when her heart started to race.

Really, Ariadne thought. I'm twenty two. I'm past this "butterfly" stage. The last time it was even socially acceptable for her to have butterflies was when she was sixteen. She nodded, trying to catch her breath. "It's fine." Arthur made his way to the far cabinet, taking out two glasses. He gestured to the faucet or the fridge, asking milk or water. "Water's good." She managed a smile and turned around, grasping the counter. She looked down at her nails. It had been a while since she had done anything with them.

When she looked up, Eames was smirking at her. "What?" she mouthed, sensing Arthur's acute presence behind her. Eames just shook his head.

"Here's your water, Miss Ariadne," Arthur said. Her analytical mind was working in overdrive. She could feel exactly how far away from her he was. He had to nearly wrap his arm around her to put the glass on the counter. He could have easily given her the other glass, which would have had much less proximity to her. He must have had a reason to be close to her, right?

For once in her life, she could not figure him out. It frustrated her.

Eames and Arthur sat at the table, but she stayed standing. Standing helped her think. Before any more thinking could commence (other than how attractive Arthur looked right then), Cobb returned.

"We all need to talk." The air chilled considerably. He looked around. "Well, if no one else is going to start, I'd like to say that I think we all did wonderful."

Arthur began to fidget. "There were too many mistakes to call it 'wonderful', Cobb. The limbo factor, Saito being shot, Mal interrupting." He looked at his feet. "My missing information," he added quietly.

Cobb looked at Arthur for a long time. "You don't need to be so hard on anyone. Especially yourself, Arthur. We got it done, successfully and we're all alive. I'd say that's wonderful."

Thunder cracked in the previously sunny outdoors. Arthur looked outside, rubbing his neck. He never knew how to take compliments or apologies. He tried to brush them off as well as he could. This time, though, he knew it was different. Eames punched his arm.

"That was some pretty imaginative thinking there, with the anti-gravity kick." A rare compliment from Eames made Arthur look at him. Eames grinned. "Even if you did send an entire army on us, mate." He laughed. His tone had no bitter underlay and he was smiling. Eames was one to forgive, but instead of forgetting, he'd tease you about it until the day you die.

"Ariadne," Cobb said, rolling his eyes at the point man and forger. "Those mazes were fantastic. And the way you worked down in limbo was great. You were amazing." She blushed and looked at the faucet. Arthur's forehead creased and his head shifted downward again.

He coughed. "So, Cobb. You're staying here, if I'm correct." Cobb smiled, the sound of the toddlers' laughter in the other room.

"Right you are. I couldn't leave them. They _are _my reality, and I plan to keep it that way." His thoughts moved when he say the brief case at Arthur's feet. All three of the group were staring expectantly at him. "I'm done with dreaming. I don't need it. But I think you three should stick together. You're the best of the best. And I think you could do anything you put your mind too."

Eames and Arthur smiled and nodded, but Ariadne wasn't sure what was going through their minds. "Stick together?" she asked. All eyes were now on her. "It's just…I know we should all stay friends or something, but are there really that many jobs? Enough for us to have our own sort of business, so to speak?"

Eames laughed again. "Really, Ariadne, dear, you have no idea how serious and in demand this business is. Most people who understand it at all, let alone know how to use it appropriately are in the military. They're not pleasant folk to deal with, if you catch my drift. And as Cobb said, we're the best."

Arthur obviously agreed. "Anyone who can work together well enough to get inception done is going to be at the top." The expression on Cobb's face showed that Arthur's remark redeemed his previous one. "Even without Cobb, we can do it."

"Speaking of which, I expect to be keeping in touch with all of you, but if you wouldn't mind, I haven't seen my family in quite some time."

"Right," Eames said. "We'll be going then."

Arthur turned to Ariadne. "Want to get dinner before we head off, Ariadne? There's this great restaurant half an hour away." Ariadne put her thumb up and laughed. Eames and Cobb watched.

"Well, Arthur, dinner sounds lovely," Eames laughed, putting his hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Your buy, right?"

Arthur glared at him. "Sounds great, Eames." He pushed the arm off and stood up. "Cobb it was great working with you and I'll sincerely miss you." He gave Cobb the second hug Ariadne had ever seen him give. Eames rolled his eyes, stood up as well and gave Cobb a pat on the back.

As they headed down the hall, Cobb grabbed Ariadne's arm. "Hey. I want you to know that I believe in you. So do they, but they'll never admit it, especially Arthur." He pointed at him. "You know, he's my closest friend but that doesn't make him the most expressive person in the world." Ariadne let out a laugh. "Good luck with them. Sometimes, you'll have to speak up."

"I always do."

Cobb's smile reached his eyes. "I know." With that, he patted her back one more time, and she followed the two men down the hall.


	2. A Feigned Hollywood Romance

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A Feigned Hollywood Romance

**Chapter 2**

Ariadne hated taxis. She scrunched her nose. The grey upholstery was old and fringed. There was a large brown stain beside her hand. She lifted it and cringed. "Ew." The windows were dirty. If she had wanted to look out at the view, she couldn't have because of abundance of dirt covering her vision. It smelled like smoke and the driver was playing Bob Marley at top volume. The only good thing about this form of transportation was how close she was to Arthur.

It was obvious that he didn't like the situation anymore than she. He coughed into his elbow. "Nice pick, Eames," he grumbled. He pulled the seatbelt from his lap and Ariadne tried not to stare.

"Anything for you, dear," Eames said. He threw his arm around Arthur's neck and pulled him close. "I know how much you enjoy…taxis. Maybe this time we won't be shot at." He raised his eyebrows. "Wouldn't that be a lovely surprise?" Arthur pushed his arm off.

He looked pissed. More angry than Ariadne had seen him. "Stop here," he said shortly. The man looked back, pulled his cigarette out of his mouth, pulled the stick shift back and slammed on the breaks. "That'd be about…" Before he could finish, Arthur took a stack of the inception money and threw it at the guy, kicked open the door and stormed out.

"Maybe you shouldn't have said that," Ariadne said.

"If there's one thing I know," Eames said, "Is how to push Arthur's buttons."

"And how is it that you know so well?"

Eames smoothed his hair back. "That, love, is a whole other story." Ariadne stared at him, waiting for more of an explanation than that but he just smiled and left out the other door. The cab driver grinned at her.

"Those boys are mighty fine," he said, watching as Eames sauntered away. He licked his lips.

Ariadne forced a half-hearted smile, which turned into more of a grimace. "Uhm. Yeah. Nice talking to you." She picked up her bag and made her way across the seat. She stepped into the Californian rain. The restaurant's light flashed in the dreary weather.

She realized she was underdressed, especially with Eames and Arthur in suits. This place was fancy and expensive. She reached to close the door. The driver winked at her and she grimace/smiled again. The door slammed shut and she shook her head. There were certainly less flashers back in America, but the people were just as eclectic.

The doors were at least five feet taller than her. Eames was politely waiting, whereas Arthur was inside talking to the hostess. It was obvious to Ariadne that his happiness was forced. He was making multiple gesticulations. Eames noticed Ariadne watching him. "He'll be fine. Promise." He held out his pinky and Ariadne couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, if you say so." He pushed open the door and held out his arm, signaling ladies first. Ariadne snorted, but went ahead anyway. Eames followed closely behind her and the door shut with a bang. The hostess pushed herself away from the oak wood podium and moved her gaze from Arthur to them.

"Oh," she said. "This is the rest of your party?" Her eyes studied Ariadne. She smirked. "Wonderful." She touched Arthur's arm before grabbing the menus. "You'll be seated down here."

They walked past the tables filled with couples and girls wearing low-cut shirts and big sunglasses. Ariadne let herself wonder, for a moment, what possessed them to wear sunglasses in the already dim restaurant. A bit of smug satisfaction hit her when she saw that Arthur was completely ignoring them.

As they reached the back, the hostess dropped the menus on the table. "Here."

She just stared at them until Ariadne felt awkward enough to finally sit down. Eames slid into one booth and Ariadne slid into the other. With a moment's hesitation, Arthur sat down next to Ariadne.

The blonde bimbo of a hostess watched as Arthur edged toward Ariadne, her eyes narrowing. "Right." She cleared her throat and placed her hand on Arthur's shoulder again. "Your waiter will be here to order your drinks in a moment." Ariadne watched as she plastered a smile across her face. Squeezing Arthur's shoulder, she left the table.

As Ariadne studied Arthur's face, she wondered exactly what he was thinking. He was obviously pissed off, but she didn't understand why he let people rile him up so easily. It seemed to her that he was constantly on the defense, waiting to jump.

The silence between Ariadne and Eames was comfortable, but it wasn't so for Arthur. He felt fidgety. He knew it would disintegrate once the conversation sparked, but he was determined to stay the solitary one who didn't open the floor.

Ariadne didn't like quiet, nor did she like people hiding from their problems. "So. It's pretty rainy out there." _Really? _She thought, immediately feeling stupid. _That's definitely the best way to get the guy you have a crush on to think you're intelligent._

She stopped herself. Crush couldn't be the right word. She didn't know him at all. Maybe she could, someday, but there's no way she actually had a _crush _on _Arthur_ of all people.

Eames grinned. "Yes. The weather. Brilliant topic." He laughed. Ariadne looked at her hands for a moment before just relaxing. She was never like this and needed to let go. Nothing was pressing on her. For once in her life, she was going to calm down and enjoy herself.

"I thought so," she spoke up. Arthur smiled and Ariadne saw that he was going forgive Eames.

"It should be clear in New York," he said. "The storm is on the Pacific, not the Atlantic."

Eames nodded, as if he loved the weather channel. "Are you seeing your folks?" Arthur nodded sharply. "Well, shouldn't Ariadne and I join you? It's on the way to Paris." Ariadne perked up.

"Wait, we're going back to France?"

Arthur turned to her. As he opened his mouth, their waiter appeared. "Hey, guys!" he shouted. Arthur's face contorted. "What would y'all like for your drinks?" When no one answered, the waiter threw himself into the seat next to Eames.

"Is there something wrong?" he said excitedly. He began to jump up and down. "What brought y'all here? I can tell it's something serious."

Arthur sucked in his breath. "Nothing…"

"You two!" the waiter, Joe, according to his nametag, pointed at Arthur and Ariadne. "Y'all have something special. O. M. G! Are you getting married? Is this an engagement party?" Ariadne's mouth started to drop. "You are so totally adorable."

Ariadne was at a loss for words, but Arthur grabbed her hand. "Yes," he said, stroking the top of her hand. "This _is _an engagement party. Ariadne, I guess the cat's out of the bag." He turned to look her in the eyes. They clearly told her to go along with it.

She forced the butterflies back into the depths of her stomach and held Arthur's hand up so Eames and Joe the waiter could see clearly. "Sorry Eames. We wanted it to a surprise," she started with a laugh. "But it seems Joe has a keen eye."

Joe looked ecstatic and Eames looked highly amused. "Omg! Omg! Omg!" Joe yelled. "Congrats! That's so completely awesome. Yay!" Arthur grinned, slowly letting go of Ariadne's hand. She quickly pulled her hand back under the table. "Well, that aside, what can I get y'all?"

Arthur nodded, "Well, I think Eames and I here would like a beer or two. Ari, dear?"

"Lemonade," she stuttered, hoping that the blush she felt in her cheeks wasn't as dark as she thought.

Joe smiled and pranced away, off to tell the staff. When Eames saw he was clearly out of earshot, he said, "So Arthur, I didn't know you and Ariadne were dating, let alone thinking of marriage. Congrats mate."

His forehead creased. "Oh yeah, it's been this huge secret romance that we've been hiding behind everyone's backs." He rolled his eyes. "Ariadne, have you chosen the colors for the bouquets?"

She was at a loss for words. "Of course," she finally mumbled.

"Well," Eames spoke, saving her from being prompted on. He picked up the menu full of overpriced, undercooked food from in front of him and opened it, Ariadne and Arthur following suit. "I for one am famished. Oh, those French fries sound delicious."

A bell rang in the back of Ariadne's head. "France. What were you guys saying about that?" she asked, absentmindedly flipping through her own menu.

Arthur didn't look at her when he answered. "Cobb wanted us to stick together. We already have a warehouse to use there and you're used to it. Eames and I can easily relocate, especially with the cushion of the inception money. Unless," he looked up at her. "You don't want to stay in Paris. Then we don't have to."

Ariadne took a moment to let it sink in. Of course she'd love to stay in Paris. But they were leaving the dice in _her_ hands. It wasn't as if it was an inconvenience to them. They wanted her to pick. A rush of endorphins flooded through her brain.

All her life, she'd been the one in the back ground. Not necessarily the unliked, but the unknown. Other than her parents, she didn't really ever get close to anyone.

In middle school, when everyone is so cruel, she had been deemed the "nerd". She didn't let it get to her, but the other kids in her class let it get to them. When she was brought up, no one wanted to be the one that would be ridiculed alongside her, so she was alienated. Almost ostracized by the so called popular kids.

High school was better. But she still didn't have many friends or anyone to confide in other than her mother. Ariadne's mother was her rock through those years. When Ariadne had been through out, cold and alone, to the world, her first stop had been college. It was the first thing she did without her parents' firm support behind her and she was proud that she made it through. She had met a girl that she became close friends with there, but not as close as she and he mother had been.

"Paris is good."

Joe jumped from around the corner. Arthur dropped his menu to his lap. It slid to the ground as Joe giggled. "Got you!" Arthur exhaled and brought a grin to his face.

"That you did," he said. He began to reach for the menu, but Ariadne held her hand up to stop him.

"I've got it," she said, easily sliding beneath the table to find the menu. Once she was under, she realized there was much more underneath the surface than just a simple menu. There was a little container from a gumball machine and a ten dollar bill. She took them both, figuring that the bill could be a tip for Joe. "Here you go," she said briskly as she sat up. Arthur took the menu from her, very slightly brushing against her hand.

That had more effect on her than when he had taken her hand in his own. "You two are just too dang adorable!" Joe slid the beers on the table. From the ledge he grabbed a clear glass. "Here's the lemonade for the lady."

Ariadne smiled a thank you and graciously took the drink. Joe once again took his seat by Eames. "Now, I just _have _to know," he said, very seriously, "was it love at first sight?"

Eames and Ariadne laughed quietly but Arthur leaned over to Joe and just as seriously said, "Yes."

It sounded so true, so honest; Ariadne thought he was telling the truth, even for just a moment. Then he slumped back next to her, laughing along. Ariadne sighed quietly.

Joe looked as if he had won the lottery. "I should probably take your people's orders, uh?" he said dejectedly. "You just look so in love! It's rare we get that in LA, land of the phonys. Really though, you two are just fabulous!"

After taking their orders, he left off to the kitchen.

Ariadne began to push her hair back, looking for the container she'd found on the ground, wanting to open it. It was no where to be found. She glanced at Arthur to see if he had it, but caught a glimpse of his face instead.

It was one of the strangest things. After having the single most vivid, terrifying, and volatile dream of her existence, the only thing she remembered as clear as if it had just happened was that kiss.

Ariadne had been in dreams before and it had never occurred to her that kissing the dreamer would make the projections feel any different. Actually, she thought, wouldn't drawing _any _attention to the dreamer be dangerous? You still feel things in dreams and your body obviously reacts.

"Hmph," she muttered, sincerely confused. Eames looked up at her. She bit her lip and tried to cover her mistake. "So Eames, who did you imitate for the girl in Fischer's dream? Your girlfriend?"

Eames snorted and Arthur slammed his beer on the table. Ariadne watched as he gripped the bottle. "Well, love," Eames said, raising his eyebrows. "She's not _my _girlfriend. I don't have one."

"Oh," Ariadne said. "Was she someone you just found off the street?"

"No. I know her much better than that. Arthur knows her just a bit more, though, don't you Arthur?" Arthur's bottle shook slightly. "But actually, that's Aemelia. She's my twin."

It was clear that Arthur didn't want to talk about the subject, but Ariadne had to know. "If she is your sister, then how does Arthur know her so well?"

Glass exploded everywhere. Ariadne held up the menu Joe had neglected to take from them to protect her self. When the rain of crystals ended, she brought it down slowly. Apparently Arthur had held the nose of the bottle so tightly he crushed it. "Oh dear!" came from around the corner before Ariadne had a chance to comprehend the situation.

Joe bounded around with a tray of steaming food. He dropped it on the table behind them and leaned around the corner. "Clean up, please!" he yelled. After receiving a reply, he once again sat down next to Eames. "What happened?" he asked Arthur.

Arthur closed his eyes, let out a deep breath, and smiled. "Just nervous, I guess," he said. He ran his fingers through his hair.

Ariadne jumped with a sharp pain in her side as Arthur slipped a ring onto her finger. Looking at it, she gasped. It had been the one from the gumball machine. Another waiter came up to the table to start cleaning the glass while Joe sat awestruck.

"Are you guys, like, getting married soon?" he asked.

"As soon as possible!"

Joe was about to speak when he caught sight of Ariadne's hand. "OMG, IS THAT THE RING?"

"Joe!" the other waiter yelled. "This is your damn table. Do some work." Joe rolled his eyes and got up, mouthing 'I'll be back'.

The other waiter went to get Arthur another beer while Joe scooped up the glass and left to throw it away. "Would you mind tell me what you're doing, Arthur?" Ariadne asked, leaving the ring safely on her finger.

He shrugged as if this was the most normal thing in the world. "Just playing along."

Ariadne rolled her eyes. Eames was laughing when Joe came back. "So, you two are really happy?" Arthur nodded and Ariadne gave him a crisp smile. "Well," he started. "Let's show everyone!"

Ariadne's eyes widened, understanding what he was about to do. "Joe, no. It's okay, really."

"No, no, it's totally cool," Joe said. He jumped on to the table. "Hey! Hey, can I have your attention please?" Everyone looked up. "This little lovely couple right hurr are engaged to be married." Cheering. "Who wants to see them kiss?" The color left Ariadne's face as the crowd began to chant 'kiss kiss kiss kiss'.

Arthur stood up and waved at everyone, dragging Ariadne along behind him. "Just playing along," he whispered firmly in her ear. Louder, "You guys want to see a kiss?" The room cheered. Arthur smiled and threw Ariadne into a dip. Her heart beat sped up again. "Quick." He was whispering again. "Give me a kiss."

At that moment, Ariadne received the second best kiss she'd had in her life, the room clapping for them.

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**If we're being honest here, Joe came out of no where, but I love him.**

**Remember Aemelia, she's important! :D**

**thanks for reading. 3**


	3. Nothing Like Before

**Yes, I realize this is shorter than the first two chapters, but it needed to be done and this with the next chapter would be way too long. **

**enjoy.**

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**Ch. 3 Nothing Like Before**

The clinking of Ariadne's fingernails against the metal arm rest echoed throughout the terminal. The few people around the group turned to stare, particularly an old lady with white pixie hair, who looked at the young architect as if she were the sole reason for the Holocaust. Staring them straight in the eye, Ariadne began to hit the armrest aggressively until the woman huffed and stood up. As she walked away, she stage whispered, "Some people!"

"Yes, nice day you too, ma'am!" she called. Eames let out a laugh, but Arthur just turned the page in his book. Ariadne scoffed. She leaned over to see what the title was, but he had it pressed against his leg. "What book do you have there?" she asked, trying to sound as sweet as possible.

"Catcher in the Rye," he said, his eyes still glued to the page.

_Really? _Ariadne had read it in high school, not liking it much. All Holden did was complain and she didn't understand why Arthur would find that more interesting than her. Then again, it's not like he had spoken a word to her after dinner.

They had decided that they would stop at New York on the way to Paris, as Arthur wanted to see his family and Ariadne and Eames really had nothing else to do, so they were going along with him. This had all been planned on the taxi ride over to the airport, a conversation that Ariadne had had little say in. Whenever she began to speak, Arthur stopped all communication, prompting her to stop. Eames finally bought the tickets as the arrived at LAX for the second time that day.

Now in a nearly empty seating area, Arthur had brought out what seemed to be a brand new copy of Catcher in the Rye. Ariadne had been fidgeting to block out the screaming voices in her head. It was if she had a devil on one shoulder, bringing her spirit down, brick by brick, and an angel on the other, taking her hope to increasingly higher levels. The tapping was soothing, near musical to her.

The intercom came on. "Flight number 17A will be boarding in just a few moments. Will first class please line up at the door?" The clean cool voice of the woman behind the desk rang around them.

"That would be us," Eames said, grabbing his carry on from the floor. He held out his hand to help Ariadne up. She took it, though she didn't need it, hoping to engender _some _sort of spark from Arthur. He was still reading. "Arthur," Eames said, louder this time. Arthur only raised his eyebrows. He was making sure to use as minimal of an effort as he could. "We need to go line up."

Arthur held up his thumb, making no move to get up. Eames rolled his eyes, softly taking Ariadne's shoulder and leading her to the gate.

"What's his problem?" she asked, staring back at Arthur. For someone who showed so little emotion, he sure switched them up a lot.

Eames let out a humorless laugh. "Arthur is throwing his version of a temper tantrum. When he's angry, he shuts off from the world even more that he does on a daily basis. Immature, really, but you learn to get used to it."

"What's got to be angry about? We didn't do anything."

A smile played across Eames's lips. "You see, love, Arthur isn't angry at us, for once. He hates himself at the moment."

Ariadne tilted her head. "And why is that?" What she was really thinking about was how in tune Eames seemed to be with Arthur's emotions and habits. She knew they knew each other before this job, but it seemed as if they knew each other more than just partners. It annoyed her that she, who considered reading people a special talent, couldn't understand Arthur, but Eames could.

"He let himself be vulnerable, darling, and that is all I can say on the subject." Eames patted her on the back as Arthur approached them. He watched them stare at him and offered a tight smile. Ariadne tried to muster a sneer back at him, but she was too hurt.

There was no way to deny now that Arthur remembered the kiss from the dream and there had to be a reason he went on the façade at the restaurant. Arthur definitely wasn't one to joke around like that, and he couldn't blame the alcohol. Obviously Eames knew more than he was letting on, but he wasn't going to tell her about it.

"Boarding, first class, flight 17A," the flight attendant said. Eames took the tickets out of his bag and handed two to Arthur. He took them, still staring at the book. Ariadne held out her hand.

"Ehem," she said. His eyes slid over. She gestured to her open hand. He looked back at the book and dropped the ticket into her palm. She cracked her knuckles, keeping herself from smacking him across the face.

Ariadne was not a violent person, nor was she one to fall head over heels, but something about Arthur made her angry.

Maybe it was his 'I don't care who I hurt as long as I get what I want attitude' or the way he could crush someone's heart just by looking at them.

She stopped her self, as she had many times already. Arthur meant nothing to her, she decided. If he didn't care about her, then she didn't care about him.

Arthur turned the pages as he absentmindedly licked his lips, causing Ariadne's stomach to churn. _But then why the hell had he kissed her? __**Twice**__? _

"Ticket?" the flight attendant, Lucy, asked. It was clear she had flown all day and didn't have the patience to put up with cranky flyers. Ariadne handed her the ticket and went to wait for Arthur and Eames at the passage.

Upon entering the plane, Arthur closed his book, suddenly looking for something. Had Ariadne been speaking to him, she would have asked him why he was so anxious. They were in the third row, and the sixth row was the only one on board before them. Arthur began to move forward faster, before Eames sped ahead of him. "It's mine!" he yelled.

Arthur glared, but got into the row before Eames had the chance. Eames bounded past him, pushing him into the aisle seat, wiping the smug expression right off of his face. Eames jumped into the window seat, throwing his carry on under the seat. "In your face, Petrelli!" he yelled. The other members of the plane boarding behind them were watching, bemused.

Ariadne tried not to laugh, remembering that she was mad at Arthur. She made her way to sit down, but Arthur held up his hand as she had just an hour or so earlier. He stepped into the aisle, letting her sit down in the middle. As she sunk into the cushy seats, she felt her body beginning to relax. It was obvious she needed to sleep and she wanted to get started as soon as possible. Arthur sat back down and let the line move onward.

He leaned forward and picked the book Eames had pushed to the floor up. He opened it to page seventy and started reading again.

_Unbelievable_. Ariadne wanted to say something, but she was already falling into sleep. "Ariadne?" was all she heard before she was enveloped in darkness.

Her name woke her up. Or at least she thought she woke up, but she couldn't be sure by what she was hearing. It seemed to be so unreal that she convinced herself she had to be dreaming.

"What was that you pulled tonight, Arthur?" That was Eames. His thick accent was watered down by the confusion in his voice.

"Nothing." Arthur, sounding more uncomfortable than Eames.

"Really?" Eames asked. "Because by the look of it, you just stuck your tongue down the architect's throat."

Ariadne felt Arthur stiffen and suddenly realized his shoulder was being used as her makeshift pillow. But then again, she reminded herself quickly, she was asleep.

"I did _not _stick my tongue anywhere near her throat, not that that is _any _of your business," he snapped.

"Touchy, touchy," Eames said. "No, it's not my business, but don't you go around messing with her heart. She's a hell of a lot nicer than your last girlfriend." He paused, probably taking a sip of his wine. "I'm just saying, you'll regret it if you lose her."

Arthur took a deep breath. "No, I won't, because there is nothing between us to lose. I'm done talking, Eames."

"Just remember," came Eames's soft voice, "she's nothing like Aemelia."

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**See, I told you ****to remember Aemelia. **

******Please don't think too harshly of Arthur. It's his defense mechanisms acting up. Keep loving him, because I do.**


	4. A Stone Cold Building

**I know I said this one would be super long, but it would have ended up being WAY too long with the second half. I'm sorry.  
to my readers: you rock. I love you. a lot.  
****to my reviewers: you have NO idea how happy that email the FanFiction sends me makes me. Seeing "Review Alert" makes my heart soar. thank you so much for taking the time to write something about my story. **

**&I'm sorry this came at a later time than the other three chapters. But...yesterday was New Year's Eve and I was at my friend's party all night. The next chapter should be out by Mondayish?**

**I own Bernard and Joselyn. **

**Chapter 4**

"I really hate airports," Ariadne said as she stepped out to the taxi strip.

"Sorry, love, you're going to have to sit through a couple more," Eames said. He moved forward to the street. He held up the magazine he had stolen from the airplane to flag down a bright yellow taxi. Ariadne watched in the background as Arthur ran up to him and pulled his hand down. He muttered something, but she couldn't hear it over the beeping and rustling of the cars.

Had she not already been on two planes that day, she'd have been in a better mood, but she meant it when she said she hated airports. Nothing about them excited her. Not the hustle and bustle, not the idea of going to a new place, and certainly not the plane itself. She could handle everything else, but aircrafts made her antsy.

When she had told Cobb that she would go with them on the job, it had been half hearted. Part of her truly had wished that Cobb would have given in and told Arthur about the Mal prison inside of him. When it became clear she _was _joining along, she had to stop herself from having a panic attack.

The sound of a plane lifting off, so far behind them, filled Ariadne's ears, making her surprised when Arthur grabbed her shoulder. She jumped. He faced her and said, "I was calling your name." He saw how white her face appeared and his own face softened. "Our ride is here, Ariadne."

She nodded, pulling her arm away from his grasp. Falling for him was obviously getting her no where, but she had agreed to be a part of their group and couldn't back out now. She'd have to mask her feelings, hopefully eradicating them.

Arthur looked her over once more before the blank expression returned to his face. He turned to go, stopping at a long black limousine. "This is our ride to your house?" Ariadne asked in disbelief. Eames came up behind her.

"This, love," he said, whispering in her ear, "is just the beginning."

As Ariadne climbed in, all she saw was expensive fine leather and bottles upon bottles of wine with names she couldn't pronounce. Suddenly Arthur's designer wardrobe made sense. It was what he had grown up with.

As they all settled, she realized that there were six pillows, all with a different name on them. She picked up the one next to her, a soft mint green with 'Elizabeth Petrelli' inscribed across in sparkly silver. She ran her hand across the lettering. Immediately, she knew it was hand made. "Who's Elizabeth?" she asked. The car started.

Arthur looked up from his book. He smiled at the pillow. "She's my little sister. Don't call her that, though. She only let's our mother call her that. Lizzie is the only name she'll accept from any one else."

Ariadne's heart soared. He was at least talking to her again. Maybe his family was a subject to get him talking. "So the rest of these, they're your family as well?" Eames reclined and slowly let his eyes drop closed.

"Yes. Elizabeth is the youngest. Next are William and his wife, Fancy." He pointed to the two on either side of Eames. "My parents." These, Ariadne figured, would be the ones on the far seat with Arthur Sr. Petrelli and Karen Petrelli on them. "Then," he said with a small smile. "Me." Ariadne looked to her other side where the dark maroon pillow with cream writing across.

"They're so pretty," she said quietly. Arthur had brought his book back out and she sighed. With a lack of anything to do and no idea of how long it would take to get to Arthur's house, she took out her phone. She had no one to really call, and even if she had, her phone's plan was set in France.

Flipping it open, she laughed at the wallpaper. A picture of the scale model Eiffel Tower she had built months ago. It had seemed huge to her then, but after seeing _everything _she had built in the dreams, it seemed like child's play.

She watched as Eames pretended to fall asleep. As slowly as possible, she reached over to pick up the Arthur pillow. She noticed that Arthur looked up slightly and took that as a small victory.

Seizing up all her power, she threw the pillow at Eames's stomach. For a moment there was silence as Eames sat still and Arthur turned a page in her book. Dejectedly, Ariadne leaned against the seat. She had hoped Eames would brighten her day. As she began to close her eyes, the William pillow hit her across the face. "Eames!"

He was grinning at her from his seat, no remorse showing. "Fine!" She picked up the Elizabeth pillow and threw it back. Before long there was a full out war between them, Arthur occasionally looking up from his book to laugh.

The limo suddenly lurched to a stop, causing Eames and Ariadne to topple to the ground. Ariadne giggled as she pushed herself up onto the seat. Her giggling ceased as she looked outside. The house (or Manor, as the gates said) was gorgeous. Ariadne decided it had to have at the very least 13 bedrooms.

There was a rod iron fence around the premises that connected to the beautifully crafted gated. Around the curls of metal, there was a huge hand crafted sign. '_Petrelli Manor_' Ariadne read with awe.

"This is where you _live_?" she gasped. Arthur nodded as the gates opened slowly. Eames sat down next to Ariadne.

"Told you the limo was just the beginning."

"You weren't kidding," she muttered. The car came to a halt and the door swung open.

"Mr. Petrelli," said the limo driver from the door. He looked in and smiled at Arthur. "Long time no see, sir."

Arthur smiled back, stepping out of the car. His eyes raked over the house, taking in every brick every stone. "It wasn't you that kept me away, Bernard." Bernard smiled again, but shook his head.

"Don't let the Mrs. hear you call me by my first name, sir," he said. Arthur just rolled his eyes and punched him in the shoulder. Ariadne stepped out, taking Bernard's open hand.

"Thank you, sir," she said. He laughed and mumbled 'sir' as Eames left the car, handing Ariadne her bag.

She now had a better look at the house. Everything about it was architecturally perfect. She wanted to reach out and touch it, to see the way it was created. A house like this would have had to cost at the bare minimum a couple million dollars, and Ariadne felt that Arthur's family would have spent as much as possible on it. She marveled the way it stood so majestically in front of them. She was momentarily more excited at the thought of seeing the way the inside was structured than meeting Arthur's actual family.

The large door creaked open. Ariadne decided it had to be at least twenty feet tall. She almost laughed out loud. She would have thought that after the day she'd had, twenty feet tall doorways would no longer jar her.

"Arthur, dear!"

A girl with black dress, about to her knees, stepped outside. She had an apron wrapped around her waist. Ariadne had assumed it was her who had spoken when a woman with bottled blonde hair appeared. "How we've missed you, darling!"

As the trio stepped towards the woman, it seemed that she could not be related to Arthur at all. But, Ariadne figured that it could be because of the amount of Botox she had had done to her face. Mrs. Petrelli was definitely not an adversary of plastic surgery.

"Hello, mother," Arthur said. He returned her hug, but Ariadne felt it looked half-hearted. Karen held him out at arms length.

"There's a good boy." Her smile dropped. "Have you _slept _in this shirt, young man? Are you wearing a shirt you _slept _in without ironing it?" She scowled at him. He rolled his eyes and went on to hug his father who had come out of the house after Karen had. "Eames Darling, is that you? How _is _your sister?" She pulled him into a hug and stared at Ariadne who was standing calmly behind him.

Ariadne could feel Karen looking her up at down. Karen smirked as she gave Eames a kiss on the cheek. "She hasn't been at the house lately. We've missed her."

"Mother!" Arthur yelled. He took a deep breath before going inside.

Everyone else moved forward but Ariadne and Mrs. Petrelli. "Nice to meet you…?" she asked, flipping her hair back as if the answer made no difference to her anyway.

"Ariadne," Ariadne said, flipping her own hair back. Being weak wasn't something Ariadne did, and after limbo, why the hell should a middle aged woman intimidate her? There was a snooty vibe about her and Ariadne had a problem with people thinking they were above anyone else.

"Right," Mrs. Petrelli bit her lip, making no mental not to stock that. "Well, Ariana, let's go inside." She turned on her heel, running into the girl in the black dress. She fell to the ground. "Jacqueline, get up!"

Ariadne rushed forward to help the maid get up. "Are you okay, Jacqueline?" she asked, as she kneeled down to give her a better hold.

"Ha!" She took Ariadne's open hand and Ariadne pulled. "My name is _Joselyn_. That stupid bi-"

"Ariella! Don't talk to Jacqueline there, she needs to get back to her work. Now." Her words left no room for argument. Joselyn rolled her eyes.

"Time to let the queen feel even better about her hell hole of a kingdom," she muttered. She looked to Ariadne. "Good luck." With a fleeting smile, she rushed up the stairs, nearly running over the girl who was walking down slowly.

She had stick straight blonde hair that was much more natural than her mothers. Her face was also softer and kinder. "Hi!" she said. "Who are you?" She jumped to the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm Ariadne," Ariadne said, once again. "A friend of your brothers."

Ariadne knew now that this had to be Lizzie. Her forehead creased as Arthur's often did when he was upset. "Oh. William?"

"Arthur."

Lizzie's entire aura lit up. "Arthur? Does that mean he's here?"

Smiling, Ariadne pointed down the hall.

"Yes!" Lizzie yelled. She ran past the staircase screaming, "Arthur! Arthur, Arthur, Arthur!"

Ariadne laughed, watching the little girl. She was about to follow her when a large piano caught her eye. It was handcrafted so well she had to get a closer look at it. She ran her hands carefully across the keys, trying to put as little pressure as possible. She began to sit down as an arm wrapped around her.

* * *

**Slight cliff hanger, right? Sorry about that!**

**oh, and some of you mentioned Eames falling for Ariadne. No. Read my fic _Valentine's Day. _It's set after this story and Ariadne says clearly she feels like he's a brother. I PROMISE you Eames gets someone to love, alright?**

**I love him too much to not let him have a chance at love!**

**thank you for reading. you're all amazing.**

_**p.s. Karen is MEAN. Be ready.**_


	5. Slowly Breaking a Heart

**I really struggled with this chapter, because there was so much subject matter and I had TOTALLY thought that the Greek Ariadne was someone completely different, so I had to cut out a whole monologue thing.  
sorry if there's any misspellings/grammar errors/words missing. I really just want to be done with this chapter. /3 **

**Oh, and thank you again, my wonderful readers and reviewers. You all rock my socks. **

**and a HUGE thank you to my wonderful friend, Tatiana for being amazing.**

_**p.s. is anyone else's story traffic acting up and not showing? because mine isn't.**_

_**

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**_

**Chapter 5**

"Well, aren't you gorgeous?"

Ariadne pushed away. Stumbling, she fell onto the piano bench. In front of her stood William Petrelli with a smug expression on his face. "Are you our new maid? You look too pretty to be a maid."

"I-I'm Arthur's friend," Ariadne said, taken aback. William sat next to her, much closer than she'd have liked. He started to plunk the keys on the piano down with no rhythm at all.

"Oh, Artie's home? Is that what mom was fussing about? I think she expected Aemelia to come." He stopped hitting the keys. "Aemelia was hot. But you're not Aemelia."

As it seemed to Ariadne that William had little to no mask on the things he said, she wanted to use him to her advantage. "Why would Aemelia be coming?"

William shrugged. "I dunno. She and Arthur broke up a while back. Mom always hopes, though. She loved her. Hey, what size is your bra?" Ariadne's mouth dropped open. Will saw and laughed. "Don't worry. I'm married." He held up his ring finger. Arthur stepped into the room, looking for Ariadne. Will scoffed. "You are a cutie, though." He ran his fingers across Ariadne's cheek before pushing himself up.

"Ey, brah," he said as he passed Arthur. He held up his hand for a high five, but Arthur shook his head.

"Hey," he said quietly as he sat down next to Ariadne. The distance between them was greater than it had been between Ariadne and Will. "I'm sorry about him." His fingers swept across the keys before he began to play just as quietly as he had spoken. Ariadne watched as he meticulously played the notes.

The song would have been soft regardless of how quiet Arthur tried to play. Right when it started to speed up, he cut short. "Will is a model and believes that every female walking on the planet is irrevocably attracted to him. You may think he's joking, but Ariadne." He now looked up from the keys. "He's not."

"Arthur, dear!" Karen came around the corner, immediately noticing his proximity to Ariadne. Her eyes thinned. "Why don't you take your guest into the kitchen while Leonardo sets up the dining room?" She tightened the tacky sweater around her waist. "Leonadro!" she screamed. "Set up the dining room for eight!"

Upon entering the kitchen, the first thing to catch Ariadne's eye was the cabinetry. It was all so real, nothing artificial about it. She suddenly wondered why Arthur had gotten into dreaming, because the pull was definitely not the money. She wanted to know, but she didn't know if his family knew about it or not. Choosing not to bring it up, she turned to fridge. It was the most ordinary thing in the house, covered with loose pictures and grocery lists.

"That would be my sister," Eames said, looking at the picture Ariadne's eyes had been drawn to. Arthur's arms were laced around the dainty blonde from behind. The shirt she was wearing was lower cut than anything Ariadne had ever even though of buying, but that wasn't what bothered her. It was the brightness in Arthur's eyes and the laughs coming from the couple.

"Yeah. I know." Ariadne wouldn't allow Eames to see the part of her falling for Arthur. She knew he wouldn't tease her for it, but she didn't even know how she'd start. 'Oh, Eames, I'm quite possibly falling in love with Arthur. Just thought I'd pass that on'. Yeah, she wasn't buying that.

"It wasn't a long relationship," he cooed in her ear.

Ariadne nodded, her eyes distant. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to think about the pretty blonde hair Aemelia had. She didn't want to think about how much of a muddy brown her hair was. She didn't want to think of how tall and slender Aemelia was, and most definitely did not want to think of Aemelia and Arthur kissing.

Mr. Petrelli was asking one of the men in black about the alcohol. "And for our guests?" he asked, trying to get Eames and Ariadne's attention.

"Anything works for me," Eames said, with a smirk. "You remember, don't you?"

Mr. Petrelli laughed. "Oh my, do I. How about you…I'm sorry I seem to have forgotten your name?"

_You're not the only one_ Ariadne thought with a sigh. "My name is Ariadne."

"Ariadne. That sounds so familiar." Fear struck through her. He shrugged. "Well, what would you have to drink?"

"Oh, I don't drink alcohol." She was used to the general _ugh_sand _why_s she received but Arthur's father just smiled.

"Wise decision. Wish I had thought of doing the same when I was your age."

"Dinner," called Leonardo.

Karen ran into the dining room. There was hushed whispering for a moment. Karen appeared back in the kitchen. "Leonardo says that dinner is ready. You may be seated."

It sounded ostentatious to Ariadne. _You may be seated_? This wasn't a wedding. Ariadne and Eames were just her son's friends. Who was she trying to impress?

Everyone began to enter the dining room. Ariadne heard a 'psst' from behind her. She turned to see Joselyn holding up a wine glass with a K monogrammed on it. Joselyn mustered up all her saliva into and spit into it. Ariadne let out a loud laugh.

"Jacqueline? Is that you?" came Karen's stern voice.

"Go," mouthed Joselyn. Ariadne gave her a thumbs up and power walked into the first empty seat she saw as Joselyn yelled, "Yes?" in a high falsetto.

"Where are the drinks, girl?"

As Joselyn walked in with the drinks, Ariadne got a look around. Mr. Petrelli and Mrs. Petrelli were each at different heads of the table, and Eames was to her side. Next to him were Arthur and an empty seat. A pretty brunette with rail thin arms and a huge diamond on her ring finger was sitting patiently across from him. Ariadne wondered how a guy as creepy as Will could have married someone as beautiful as her.

Lizzie was sitting next to Will's wife, Fancy, if Ariadne remembered right. Will was sitting directly across Eames. Ariadne was thankful for Joselyn distraction or she may have had to sit by Will.

Joselyn gave Lizzie what had to be a Shirley Temple and offered Fancy a glass of wine. "Oh," she said in a strong French accent. "No thank you." Ariadne hadn't expected her voice to sound so much like Mal's.

"Babe, drinking is good for the soul!" Will exclaimed, taking both his and Fancy's glass. He shoved hers in front of her.

"No, Will," she said. "I don't want any wine tonight." He just rolled his eyes, downing his wine glass.

After the food had been served, they all sat in an awkward silence. Fancy, since she wasn't a born Petrelli, couldn't handle it. "So," she said, twirling a noodle that she didn't intend to eat on her fork. "What is your name?" Ariadne was beginning to get sick of repeating herself, but she didn't want to be snarky to Fancy. It wasn't her fault her mother-in-law was an evil woman.

"Oh, that's Ariel," Karen said with a laugh. She brought her wine glass to her lips, giving both Ariadne and Joselyn smug satisfaction.

"Actually. My name is Ariadne, Mrs. Petrelli. Ariadne Adonis. You're Fancy, right?" she asked, attempting to keep Arthur's mother out of the conversation.

"Adonis?" Karen said. She shot Fancy a look, telling her to shut up. "Like Dora Adonis? Didn't she die?"

It was as if a knife had been stabbed into Ariadne's heart. "Dora Adonis was my mother, and yes, she did die. In a plane crash."

"Oh." Karen took a large bite of chicken. While chewing, she said, "Where'd she get the name Ariadne? It sounds like a brand of toilet paper, not a…never mind."

"Mom," Lizzie whispered.

"Ariadne was the mythological daughter of King Minos. She fell in love with Theseus, who was to be sacrificed to the Minotaur (who was actually Ariadne's half brother). Daedalous was an architect who built the maze that the Minotaur dwelled in. He shows Theseus the route to the Minotaur while Ariadne gave him a spool of thread to find his way back out. When he had killed the Minotaur, he found his way to Ariadne. They fled away to an island together, when he deserted her," Ariadne said. As she finished up, everyone was staring at her. "It means 'holy one', and as our family, way back, was from Crete, both my mother and father, she thought the Princess of Crete would work well for my name."

"So your mom named you after a girl who gave up everything to be with a guy who ultimately left her?" Eames asked to ease the silence.

"She always told me when I was younger that it's not the situation, but how you deal with it."

"Right," Karen said. "Wasn't she some sort of an artist? Abstract?"

Ariadne moved the food around on her plate. "Yes. And my father was in the military," she added, before Karen could question her again.

"So, one less artist in the world. Big deal."

"Excuse me?" Ariadne asked, hoping she had misheard.

Karen saw her expression. "Oh, honey! Don't take it that way, it's just that it's not like your mother or your father did much for society. Arthur, my husband over there, the world would be impacted if he died, but not some random old war vet and a washed up artist." The room was quiet again.

Ariadne didn't know what to say. She wasn't the one who was supposed to say anything. Arthur was supposed to stick up for and everyone at the table was waiting for him too. As it settled in to Ariadne that he wouldn't, she felt the tears well up in her eyes.

Maybe he didn't know how close she had been with her parents. Maybe he didn't know how crushed that she had been when they died. Maybe he thought of her as just a friend. But that didn't mean he could let his mother talk to her like that. She'd just insulted a _dead _woman.

Apparently whatever Karen said went in this house. Mr. Petrelli was glaring at his wife. Fancy was biting her lip and Lizzie was staring at Arthur with hopeful eyes.

"So Arthur," said Will, oblivious to the tension floating around his mother, Ariadne, and his brother. Arthur looked at his brother warily. "Why'd you break up with Aemelia? She was sexy."

Ariadne stood up before thinking. "I have to go to the bathroom," she announced. She looked to Lizzie for help. Lizzie pointed down the hall, and then pointed right.

Getting out of the dining room as quickly as possible, she practically fell into the bathroom upon reaching it. She slammed the door shut and slid against the wall. It was too much for her to take in such little time. She had just been in limbo. She had more than her own fair share of panic attacks lately.

After what felt like fifteen minutes of staring at the sink, there was a staccato knock on the door. "Come in," she warbled. The door opened and closed.

"Ello, Ariadne," Eames said as he squatted down to look at her. "I apologize for the way she acted." Ariadne was grateful for him, but it wasn't his place to make amends for Karen. It was Arthur's. Eames leaned forward to sweep a tear away from her eye. He held out his arms for a hug, but Ariadne vehemently shook her head. He pulled her close anyway and she started to cry. "Shh," he said. He softly ran his fingers through her hair. "What's wrong?"

"I-I really like Arthur," she mumbled, cursing herself for actually telling him. "But he's s-such an i-idiot. I can't believe h-he didn't say anything."

Eames continued to pull his fingers through her hair. "Arthur's like that."

She didn't really want to talk any more about her feelings for Arthur. "How did Arthur and Aemelia meet?"

Eames could tell that she was closing up and he wasn't about to pry. "They ran into each other at a bar."

"…And?"

Eames coughed. "Well, then their relationship started. Ariadne, we should go back in there."

Ariadne pushed him away. "You're right. Sorry. Thanks for coming in here to get me, Eames. You're honestly an amazing friend." He smiled at her.

"Alright, we'll say you got sick because of the airplane, yes?"

"Oh yeah, something else for Karen to make an obnoxious remark about. Awesome."

They entered the dining room again, Eames with his hand on the small of Ariadne's back. "Ariadne here has felt a little queasy. She's not fond of airplanes."

"Isn't that too bad, sweetie," Karen said. "Leonardo, Joselyn! Come, clean the table." Joselyn came into the dining room, catching Ariadne's eye.

"Sorry," she mouthed. Ariadne mouthed, "Thank you" back at her.

"Let's move to the living room!" Karen announced.

Ariadne didn't know how anyone could live in a house this formal. She was surprised they didn't have a dress code. As they were moving into the living room, William grabbed her arm. "I know the real reason you went to the bathroom." He was breathing heavily in her ear.

"And what is that?"

"You're throwing up so you can be skinnier to compete with Fancy, right babe? I understand. I can be pretty overwhelming to girl like you. I mean, really, I _am _a male model. Have you ever kissed a male model, Ariana?"

Was Ariadne really that hard of a name to remember? She was fed up. "No, I haven't." She put her hand on his shoulder as her smirked. "But I have kissed an actor."

"Oh?" asked Will, deflating a couple of notches. "Who?"

"Johnny Depp," she said. It had been the first thing to pop into her head, but Will walked away. She couldn't tell if he was lethargic or happy.

All she knew was that their leaving couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

**Please don't hate if that was awful!**

**Who loves Joselyn? I DO. And who thinks that it's sorta sketchy that Aemelia and Arthur met in a bar, hmmm? **

**I think my problem is that I've been writing in overdrive lately- so tomorrow, I am officially taking the day off. And Tuesday, I should be able to write a little, and then Wednesday, school starts. But updates should still be coming often, I promise!**

**thank you again my lovely, wonderful, fantastic readers!**


	6. Never Been in Love

**Hey guys! thank you again for being SOOOOOO wonderful. you're seriously awesome. **

**I'm sorry about the length of this chapter, as I've had a lot of schoolwork (ick), and because I really hate the Petrelli Manor. For real.**

**a few notes**

**Lizzie is ten. Will is 24. Arthur is 26. Eames & Aemelia are 30. Fancy is 20. Ariadne is 22. I hope that clears things up! :D**

**Oh, btw, you should go read Tater-Totss story. It has a seriously awesome start and sh's been working really hard on it!**

**shout out to my super super personable reviewers. I love how responsive you are! I'm going to start replying, because you guys seriously rock, so much. 3**

_**is anyone else really annoyed that Inception lost to **_**Eclipse _in the People's Choice Awards? Because I am._**

The Petrelli's main living room was larger than Ariadne's entire apartment. Much to her discomfort, Ariadne was still at the Manor. She found herself wishing to be on the _plane _home to Paris rather than stay in that house a moment longer. The past hour had been, as Joselyn had said, a living hell. Receiving death glares from Karen around every corner and catching Will's eyes roaming around her body was not how Ariadne had expected this night to go.

Fancy stood next to Ariadne while her husband told yet another of his exciting tales about the world of male modeling. "So you see, before I met Fancy." He paused to take another drink of wine.

"He was catching girls left and right," Fancy muttered.

"I was catching girls left and right. It was like they couldn't keep their hands off of me." Ariadne wondered how many times Fancy had heard this story and why she put up with such a pig of a husband. As Will began to explain, in great detail, what he did with said girls, a cough from behind caught Ariadne's attention. Glad to have a reason to ignore Will, she turned to find Mr. Petrelli in the kitchen. He gestured for her to join him. Knowing she wouldn't be missed, Ariadne left Fancy.

Mr. Petrelli was making himself a blend of various alcohols. He smiled at Ariadne and she tried to return it. "Look," he said. Stirring his acidic cocktail, Ariadne saw how old he truly looked. "I know my wife can be a bit of a…"

"Monster."

He seemed as if he was trying not to smile. "Yes, that. I want you to know that we don't feel that way about you at all. Any friend of Arthur's is a friend of ours."

"But, Karen doesn't feel that way," Ariadne added.

He sighed. "It would seem so, yes. I'm so sorry for the way she acted." Another _wrong_ person apologizing from Karen's actions. "But please," he pleaded. "Don't think the rest of us feel that way. Lizzie, Will, Fancy, and I think you're splendid."

It looked to Ariadne that he had spoken this monologue so many times he had it memorized. She felt a pang of sympathy for the man before her. It was obvious that everywhere he went his wife would insult someone, thus making his life significantly harder than it had to be.

Ariadne placed her elbows on the island. "I understand." He was so relieved Ariadne once again felt sorry for him.

"Thank you, Ariadne," he said. He was the most sincere out of his family so far. _Maybe even more sincere than Arthur_ Ariadne thought. He made his way back to listen to Will tell his stories for the umpteenth time.

"Actually," Ariadne said, making a split second decision. "I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

Ariadne took a deep breath and took a chance. "What was Arthur like as a child?"

Mr. Petrelli's face lit up. "Oh, he was a joy. Much better behaved than his brother, William. And so nurturing when Elizabeth was born. We couldn't have asked for a better son." He placed his wine glass on the swirled marble. "We never had to worry about drugs or drinking with him. He was much too focused on his studies to even think of interfering with them. I don't think he took a sip of alcohol until he graduated college."

"Really?" Ariadne asked. She couldn't see Arthur do anything behind his parents' backs, but he had seemed extremely comfortable with the beer in LA.

"The only problem we ever had was him socializing. I'm not sure if he realized girls existed until he went to college. Never once did he bring home a girl from school to study. The only girl I can recall from his high school days was his prom date, whom was supplied by my wife."

Ariadne found it slightly hard to believe that Arthur hadn't hung out with girls in high school. While he could seriously be a jerk, girls were obvious attracted to him. As she began to doubt his father's recollection, she remembered the way Arthur hadn't noticed a single of the Barbie-like girls in LA fawning over him. Maybe it was that he only acknowledged girls he had an interest in

"Ariadne," Mr. Petrelli said with a motion of his hand. "I know you must think that with me being stuck in such an awful marriage that I know nothing of love. But I know my son and I've taken many courses in psychology. He has deep feelings for you, maybe even love."

"With all due respect, sir, I think you're wrong. Arthur treats me like a friend." _At times, less. _

Mr. Petrelli let out a laugh. "Well, with all due respect to _you_, Miss Ariadne, you don't know him as well as I do quite yet. And I promise you, it will be frustrating being around him as he's coming to terms with his feelings. I told you, socializing was his biggest problem. Love is so completely emotionally based, Arthur struggles with it. He can't handle things that aren't based on fact, only discretion. I've never seen him in love, so I'd be delighted to hear your report on how that goes down."

Ariadne was so surprised that Arthur's father could read into that so well that she couldn't decide how to reply. Choosing not to address the beginning of the conversation, she said, "You've never seen him in love? What about Aemelia?"

Another loud laugh. "Aemelia? They weren't in love and I doubt they loved each other."

Ariadne was about to ask why they were together when Fancy entered the kitchen. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation," she mumbled, "But Will insists Ariadne see his part in the music video."

"Again," Mr. Petrelli muttered. He pointed Ariadne toward the door and she took that to mean their conversation was officially over.

Will had a seat in the middle of the room, only feet away from the gigantic television. "This, Ariana, is way better than anything Johnny Depp has ever done, I promise you."

"Oh, I'm sure," she said.

He turned on the TV. Autotuned voices flowed through the speakers. A group of girls began to shake their butts in front of the camera while singing It started to cut to different shots of each of the girls singing about how sexy someone us. "Here I am!" Will yelled as the view changed to one of him, "seductively" licking a large pink lollipop.

With that, he popped out the DVD. Ariadne started at him. "Where's the video?" she asked, knowing he had to be kidding. She caught Eames shaking his head out of her peripheral vision and saw Karen's death glare. "I-I mean, where's the video shot?" she amended. She knew where it was shot. A cheap studio with no equipment.

"Oh, Urostatia."

"Is that even a real place?" Lizzie asked. She was still staring at her book, sprawled across the floor. It seemed that ignoring people the people they talked to was hereditary.

"Of course it is, Liz," Will said, reaching down to ruffle her hair. She just turned the page. Ariadne momentarily felt sorry for Will.

Karen and Will began to bicker. "Hey," Arthur said behind Ariadne, wrapping his long fingers around her slender arm. "You ready to go home?" She jolted away from him.

"Yes," she snapped. "I've been ready since dinner, actually."

Arthur took a deep breath. "I'll go get Bernard."

As he left, Eames joined her. Regardless of her issues with Arthur, home sounded wonderful. She missed her apartment and he own bed. Any bed, for that matter.

Ariadne was already beginning to miss Cobb. He would have said something to Karen. She knew that he was close with the Petrelli family. Even though Eames obviously had connections with them that Ariadne didn't want to think about, she knew that Cobb had a deeper relationship to them and that Karen would have at least pretended to listen to what he said.

Arthur returned. "The car is ready." Karen gasped.

"Oh, honey you're leaving so soon! You just got here. Please, Stay." She ran over and took his hands. Eames grunted. "Oh, you of course, Eames, you can stay as well. She grabbed his hand. "You are always welcome. You and your sister, always. It's not like you two haven't been over here often enough." She smirked.

"Actually, we really need to get going, Mrs. Petrelli." Eames pulled away from Karen and wrapped his arm securely around Ariadne. "Our plane leaves in an hour." They hadn't booked a plane.

Karen nodded. "Well. Alright. If you two would please leave me a moment with my son."

Ariadne felt herself being guided out of the room by Eames while Karen began to say, "Are you leaving because of _her_?"

Standing in the solitude of the long white hallway helped Ariadne to think. "Eames, what are we doing when we get home? We're not going to be one of those things where we keep saying 'oh, let's get together this weekend!' but never actually intend to see each other?"

Eames laughed. "Ariadne, is that when you're worried about? Us suddenly not talking to each other?" She nodded. "No, that will not happen. When we get back to Paris, we will drop you off at your apartment. You will sleep from approximately 24 hours and then we will meet at the warehouse when we are all well rested and presentable. I promise you that we won't leave you."

Ariadne had had one too many deep talks for one sitting. After Arthur entered the hall, looking sullen, she made sure to give a quick good bye to Joselyn before finally heading home.

**So. What'd you think of Mr. Petrelli and Ariadne's deep talking? My friend says I'm like Mr. Petrelli and I could see it, I suppose. lol. **

**Alright, y'all, the next chapter should be set in Paris, but you know, sometimes the characters don't want to go to Paris quite yet. But I'm intending it to be in Paris! **

**You know how I took that Monday completely off, so I could take a break? I went to the mall with my friend and I think she was starting to get seriously annoyed, because I kept getting all these wonderful Arthur/Ariadne moments! **

**btw, I'm thinking there may have to be a sequel for this, or just numerous oneshots in the series. **

**you all rock, again. seriously. I love you. Each and every one of you.**

**/super long Author's note**


	7. Easy Come, Hard to Go

Super sorry for the delay guys. I got this awful cold last Saturday and I didn't go to church on Sunday or school on Monday & Wednesday. Finally I can breathe without feeling disgusting and actually have a clear enough mind to write. Plus, all my obnoxious schoolwork and I'm in the process of cleaning out my room- I have too much junk and my dad has been on this major cleaning spree.

Alright, again, you guys are seriously, completely, utterly amazing. Those reviews/favorites/alerts/visits make me so happy. You have no idea. You guys seriously, seriously rock. I'd totally love to high five all of you, because...you make me super excited and happy.

Anyway, some of y'all said you'd like to see some of Arthur's thoughts so, here you go. I kind of love writing in his mind, because he's slightly pretentious.

**I own Ken, Tom, Ellen, Fabian, and the taxi driver!**

enjoy. (:

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Ariadne, where did you say your apartment was?"

"Just a bit farther down this road. It's a big black building."

Finally back in the country of France, Ariadne, Arthur, and Eames were heading home. Eames had made the final decision to drop Ariadne off first. She had looked pale and was the only one with a stable home at the time. Eames said she needed to rest the most and that he and Arthur would most likely be staying in a hotel. When Ariadne realized that they didn't have a place to say, she insisted they stay with her until they had a furnished living space. Eames and Arthur had been quick to shoot her down.

"_I completely forgot you guys don't live here," she gasped. "You can stay at my apartment and tomorrow we'll go find you guys somewhere more suitable. Uhm, you can fight over the couch. I'm told it's really comfortable."_

_Arthur sunk back into his chair and closed his eyes. "Ariadne," Eames said tenderly. He placed his hand on her leg. "Really, you need to rest." He noticed her stiffened posture. "I'm surprised you're not sick of us yet." He was hoping for a smile, but he didn't get anything more than a grimace. "Listen. You can come looking with us tomorrow, right Arthur?"_

"_Mmm," Arthur mumbled, pulling his hat over his face._

"_So, you'd rather stay in a tourist trap motel than the apartment of someone you know?" Ariadne stubbornly crossed her arms and bit her lip. Settled in between the two men, she had no escape from them. _

"_You do not understand how irritable you're going to get. We just went through inception, excessive plane rides, and dinner from Hell, all without a proper bed. You need to sleep in your own bed, without knowing in the back of your mind that Arthur here could be trashing your house." Arthur grunted. Eames sighed. "Thank you, Arthur, for your input. But really, Ariadne, you need to sleep."_

_Ariadne tried to find a way out of agreeing. Thinking of none, she deflated. "I'm still going looking with you tomorrow, right?" Eames smiled. "Fine. You can drop me off, then. I'm calling you the second I wake up, though." _

"Ici?" the large taxi driver asked. Ariadne was too exhausted to use her limited French vocabulary. She lifted her arm and flung it over Arthur. He looked up and groaned again.

"Oui, il suffit de tourner po. C'est le premier bâtiment sur la droite."

The complex was dark. The taxi's brake's squealed as it came to a stop. "Nous serons de retour. Donnez-nous un instant avec la dame."

The burly man simply popped the trunk open. Eames leaned in and grabbed Ariadne's suitcase. Arthur whispered something to the driver before following Eames and Ariadne into the apartment building. It was classier than he had expected.

Marble surrounded them. Ariadne's soft steps echoed throughout the area. A door man sat asleep against a large black desk. Arthur watched Ariadne approach the man. She reached out to touch him He snorted in his sleep. "Fabian," she whispered. She shook him again. "Fabian, wake up."

His eyes opened and a smile graced his features as he saw the young woman. "Bonjour, Miss Adonis. Comment s'est passé votre voyage?"

"Épuisant," she said. "Pouvez-vous nous laisser en place?" Arthur noticed how strained her voice sounded. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he figured that it would just frustrate her more.

Fabian smiled and hit the elevator button. "Arthur?" Ariadne said, the lack of sleep nearly overcoming her. He turned. "Can you bring my bag?" she asked. Arthur was about to tell her it would be better if he just waited downstairs for Eames when Ariadne let out a yawn. She stretched back her arms, causing her shirt to lift up off her stomach. Arthur took a deep breath before holding out his hand for her bag. "Thanks."

The elevator ride up was quiet. Arthur attempted to focus on the floor, knowing that any other thoughts would be easily read across his face. For once in his life, he didn't want to think. He didn't want to be the guy who knew seven languages, had memorized every mathematical formula, and could probably deliver a baby if the problem arose. He just wanted to shut his mind off.

He'd been letting his guard down and getting too comfortable. He was Arthur Petrelli. The _Point Man_. The Point Man's job is to stick to the _facts _and only the _facts_, not flights of fancy.

Cobb had always told him to live a little. But Arthur wasn't entirely sure _how_. It was always his job growing up to do the right thing. As the eldest, responsibility was the highest priority for him. He'd been oppressed since childhood. Will, on the other hand, had always found it easy not only to get away with throwing his conscious to the wind but he also could let go. He had the pure ability to have fun without thinking about the consequences.

Arthur clenched his fist around the rough handle of Ariadne's carpet bag. He had wanted to channel Will's nature in the Los Angeles restaurant. Not his pompous attitude, but his charismatic smile, the way he could truly be himself around anyone.

He cursed himself for kissing Ariadne again. He didn't want to confuse her more than she already was. But kissing her had felt so good and so right. It was utter whim; it was something he didn't have to think about. And when she kissed back…it was the closest thing to magic Arthur had ever experienced. Nothing he had done (or had been done to him) when he was with Aemelia compared to the feeling of Ariadne pressed against him, her tender lips running across his.

The elevator lurched to a stop. "They've been," Ariadne stopped to yawn, "meaning to fix that." The doors slid open, squeaking as they did. Ariadne daintily stepped a foot out. She brought her finger casually to her lips, engendering Arthur's desire to stop thinking to increase exponentially. He followed her, suddenly wishing he had stayed in the taxi and waited for Eames. Seeing the place that Ariadne lived wasn't something he was ready for.

Approaching room 14 B, Ariadne shuffled to get her key in the lock. After dropping it once, she made it in. The gears in her door moved swiftly as she turned the key. The group of three walked inside.

Flipping the light switch, Arthur was impressed. A room filled with bookcases was before him. Books were crammed everywhere. On top of each other, stuffed in a corner, under the bookshelf itself. But it wasn't that that caught his eye. The kitchen was gorgeous. He placed Ariadne's bag next to the couch and entered the kitchen that was an architectural masterpiece.

Recalling the dinner with his parents, Arthur though of Ariadne's parents. Adonis. He, like his mother, had heard about their death. He tried to hammer out the details of the article he had read on them. There was no way Ariadne could afford this on her own and if he remembered correctly, her father had been in the military. That got you by and you'd never go hungry…but inheritance from a soldier's certainly wouldn't buy _this _apartment.

He was toying with an apron hanging on a hook when Ariadne walked in, Eames behind her. "Ariadne, dear," he said. "I will be leaving. I'll expect your call as you wake up." He grinned at her. She returned him a sleep smile. Eames leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. "I'll be in the hall, Arthur. Don't keep me waiting or I'll let the driver keep your incredibly expensive wardrobe."

Before Arthur could protest, Eames sprinted down the hall and slammed the door shut. "Wonderful," Ariadne sighed. Arthur raised his eyebrow. "My neighbor, Ken. He doesn't like me as it as, and making noises in the middle of the night isn't really a good way to make us any closer." She yawned again.

"Right…"

They stood awkwardly in her kitchen. "Well, I'll see you two tomorrow. Don't want to keep the cab driver waiting."

"Of course." Arthur wasn't sure how to leave her. He didn't want to hug her, because that would have her pressed against him again, and he didn't know if he could handle that. A kiss on the lips was out of the question. Presumably, a kiss on the cheek would be best. Doing the same as Eames was innocent, wasn't it?

He gently touched her cheek with his lips. He heard her breath hitch. Staying a moment longer than he should have, he pulled away. With a quick, fake smile he patted her on the back and turned out of the kitchen. Aware of her eyes watching him, he made his way to the door as fast as he could.

As he entered the hall, he let out the air he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He looked up to see Eames nonchalantly leaning against the wall. Two people Arthur didn't know were standing next to him. The one closest to Ariadne's door, a woman with pitch black hair and a fierce expression on her face, was studying Arthur's figure. "Um," he said. "Hi."

"Hi hi!" she said. Her partner smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Are you two the people Ariadne's been spending all her time around? I can totally see why." Arthur looked to Eames for help.

"Yes, that would be us," Eames said, his grin never leaving his face. "And you are?"

The male opened his mouth, but the girl cut him off. "I'm Ellen!" She grabbed Arthur and Eames's hands at the same time, shaking them as hard as she could. "And this is my fiancé, Tom! We're Ariadne's friends. Tom was in one of her super smart architect class things and they were working on a project and they went to some book store to work and I hadn't hung out with my dear, loving Tom in a while so I showed up to eat and read and junk, and the moment I saw Aria I knew we'd be bestest friends forever! And we are!" She reminded Arthur greatly of Lizzie. Her hair was in short wild curls and her white teeth were a huge selling point. Tom seemed used to her run-on sentences.

"Well, I'm Eames. Nice to meet you." Ellen began to lean for his hand again but Tom stopped her. She looked to Tom, who nodded, and then she turned back to Arthur expectantly.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets to avoid Ellen attacking him again. "I'm Arthur."

"Oooooh! Well, super duper nice to meet you two, too! We're uber busy planning the wedding lately and if Ariadne's kept you around for this long, you'll obviously still be around her, so could you like tell her that we came by and that I totally miss her and that she needs to get fitted for her bride's maid dress. The wedding is coming up, you know."

She threw her arms around Arthur. He stumbled against the door while Tom and Eames laughed.

"Sorry," Tom said, speaking for the first time, "she loves meeting new people." He pulled his soon-to-be wife away from Arthur who looked a bit shell shocked. Ellen giggled and used a softer approach when hugging Eames.

"I'm sure we'll see you two again!" Tom took her hand and took her down the hall way. Ellen looked over her shoulder. "Bye!" she yelled, waving her hand vigorously.

The door to the stairway slammed shut. Arthur turned to Eames. "What was _that_?" Eames just shrugged.

"I believe we just saw a glimpse of Ariadne's life."

Arthur stared at the stairwell. "Do you think Ariadne is secretly just like her?"

Eames smiled. "Arthur, I think that's something you'll have to figure out on your own."

Arthur tried to grasp the meaning in his words as they entered the elevator to leave the building.

* * *

Sorry if the French isn't correct- I just used Google Translate. I know some Spanish, zero French.

(See how I fit 'Tom' 'Ellen' and 'Ken' into here? We've already had 'Joe' and 'Leonardo' :D)

I love you guys!


	8. Hazy Confusion

To start off, I keep taking forever. In my defense, it was midterms/finals this week at my school. So, I was literally forced to study for those by my mother. And then they're even more stressful when you have an APUSH teacher that doesn't teach. That is an excuse, though,and I'm sorry it took me so long.

Secondly, Golden Globes- they made me angry. Like, I seriously did love The Social Network...but in no means was it as brilliant as Inception. Especially for Musical Score. It's so intricate and well done. But hey, I'm definitely holding out for the Oscars, right? Those are the big ones anyway.

I always think of things I need to tell you guys in the Author's Note, but then forget when it comes time to write them, I never remember. Lame :(

Anyway, you all seriously rock. SO much. 3 I've received at LEAST 45 Story/Author Alerts and that makes me super happy. I don't know if that's "big" in the scheme of things on this site, but it's huge to me and it makes me so so so so happy. You guys inspire me to write and you rock. A lot.

3

* * *

**Chapter 8**

A dense fog surrounded Ariadne. She coughed loudly into her shoulder. "Arthur!" she called. She had no idea where she was. She tried to make out the objects in the mist, but she could only perceive about a foot in front of her. "Eames?" Hearing a creak behind her, she began to panic. "Hello?"

Something grabbed her arm and she let out a shrill scream. "Hey, hey, hey, hey," a thick English accent said from directly behind her. "Calm down. It's okay." Ariadne tried to steady her breath. The fog was beginning to wear away, letting her see the Brit who had moved in front of her. He raised his eyebrows. "You alright?"

"I think so." Ariadne looped her arm through his. She stuck as close to him as she could. Fog bugged her. "Where is Arthur?"

Eames shrugged. "No clue. What's with the bloody fog?"

"I don't know. I've never encountered fog in a dream before. Why would Arthur add this?" Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 rang around them. Ariadne reached for her phone and looked at the screen. Arthur. "Hello?"

"Where are you two?" he snapped.

"Well, you, Arthur," Ariadne said through nearly gritted teeth, "are the one who is missing. Where are we? We can't see anything. Any chance you could get rid of the fog?"

Arthur's deep breaths were even more pronounced over the connection. "I'll try."

"Well, good." But the line was already dead. Immediately, the fog began to dissipate. It still lingered, making everything around them a gray-ish haze of the true colors. Ariadne made out a large building in front of her. Flashing lights and colossal advertisements flanked the skyscrapers in the vicinity. Time Square.

Arthur was leaning against a stop sign with his arms crossed. When he saw Eames and Ariadne, he smiled before he noticed their embrace. They approached him almost cautiously. Arthur had been volatile in the last two weeks. Ever since returning to Paris, his mood swings had been that of a thirteen year old girl, ranging from aggressively happy to intriguingly morose. Eames uncharacteristically walked on eggshells around him, but Ariadne's temper had been flaring.

She started to crave fighting him. She was inherently curious and found Arthur's lack of communication aggravating. He would say something, causing her to make a retort she felt would bother him. It was obvious it always struck a nerve, as he generally clenched his fist and his veins would nearly pop out. But he'd shut his mouth and just glare at the wall, giving a sharp nod.

"I suppose we're not going to do any training, with all this fog, I mean." Eames's arm left Ariadne's. She sighed.

"But the time's not up." She wasn't fond of being shot to leave early. She woke up with a jolt that Eames liked to make fun of. It wasn't the first time since they got home that they had had to shoot themselves to wake up early because Arthur didn't feel like trying. They hadn't wanted to get inside his head, so they'd been alternating with Ariadne and Eames until today. Eames had been wary, but Ariadne wanted to give it a shot.

"Well, Ariadne, it's clear Arthur would rather us not be stuck inside his head." The fog was becoming thicker. Ariadne turned to Arthur whose expression was just as foggy as the surroundings. He reached into his jacket and slowly brought out a gun.

Ariadne was now staring at the ceiling in the warehouse, her heart racing. Arthur was across from her, pulling out the needle connecting them all together. Ariadne rubbed her forehead. She felt a tug on her wrist. She sat up to see Arthur quickly rolling up the lines. Pulling her own cable out, she yanked on the cord. The lines unraveled and Arthur dropped them "Very helpful, Ariadne."

She didn't want to respond to him, so she simply didn't.

The fact that they hadn't looked into a job made Ariadne sincerely unhappy. A job wasn't supposed to just fall out of no where. They would have to find it and Arthur and Eames had made no steps towards searching.

Eames kneeled down to help with the wires when Ariadne's phone rang again. She flipped it open without seeing the name. "Hello?" she asked as Arthur and Eames began to bicker.

For a moment all she heard was the scuffles of a chair being pushed back and the delighted screams of children. "Hello?" she said again at a higher decibel. There was a faint 'give daddy the phone' in the background.

"Ariadne?"

"Dom?"

"I'm glad I caught you! How is it in France?" Arthur had perked up at the sound of his best friend's name. He pushed himself off the ground and stood next to Ariadne. He held out his hand expectantly.

"Excuse me?" she mouthed incredulously. He opened and closed his hand again. "Ha! France is beautiful as ever, Cobb." She shoved Arthur away from her and walked away. She leaned against the cool pillar. "How's California? How are James and Phillipa?"

"California is sunny and the kids are great." Ariadne clearly heard the smile in his voice. Arthur followed her to the pillar and stared at her. "No," she mouthed, vigorously shaking her head.

"I'm so happy to hear that!"

"Ariadne, give me the phone."

"Arthur, shut up."

"Give me the damn phone."

"Shut up!"

"Is Arthur there?"

"Here," she growled, throwing her phone at Arthur.

He smirked. "Hello? Yes, we are in the warehouse. Oh, Ariadne is adapting well." She hated his suave voice. She hated everything about him in that moment. It wasn't until she scanned the room that she saw that Eames wasn't there.

"Arthur?" she said. He held up his hand to quiet her as if she was a child. "Arthur!" He turned his back to her. "Arthur Petrelli!" It didn't come out as dramatic as she'd hoped for, but she had no idea what his middle name was. He glanced over his shoulder. Before she could ask where Eames was, there was a loud crash that made her and Arthur freeze.

Their eyes widened. "Was Eames on the staircase?" she asked. Arthur nodded.

"Cobb, we'll have to call you back," he said. He shut Ariadne's outdated phone, stuffing it in his pocket. They rushed to the staircase. Ariadne flipped on the light. She gasped.

At the bottom of the stairs Eames was sprawled across the floor. Before Arthur could stop her, she ran down the stairs, jumping them two by two. Jumping to the floor and fell onto her knees next to Eames, who had been knocked out by the fall. "Eames, Eames, Eames, Eames. Please be okay." Arthur kneeled beside her.

"Ariadne, he whispered. She turned to him, near shock.

"He'll be fine, right?" Her earnest worry made him bite back a smile.

"I'm pretty sure. We need to get him to a hospital to be positive. Ariadne," he said, as she looked back to Eames. She gently pushed his hair off his face. Not wanting to hurt him anymore than he was, she tried not to move his body. Placing his head on her lap she absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair. Arthur saw that his words had no effect on her. She was positive Eames was inches from death. He patted her quickly on the back and went to call an ambulance.

Ariadne paced the length of the waiting room. She had been since they had arrived at the Hospital. Arthur was amused for a while, but he was starting to think Ariadne wasn't going to stop. "Ariadne, he's _fine_. I promise. The doctor said he thinks it's just a broken leg.

"Then why wasn't he awake?" she asked angrily. When she passed Arthur this time, he grabbed her wrist. He pulled her down to the seat next to him.

"You need to calm down." Ariadne attempted to get back up but he pressed her wrist against the bar of the chair and wrapped his hand around the both of them. She struggled another moment before giving up. She dramatically sighed and slumped back against the seat. "He's going to be fine, Ariadne."

"You don't know that," she said, her voice wavering. She looked deliberately away from him at a stack of French magazines. "You don't know that one moment, someone you love, someone you care about, is here, and then the next they're gone."

Arthur felt her hand go limp underneath his. He let go as if it was on fire. "Hey," he said. "Ariadne." She looked up through her hair. "I would never lie to you. Eames will be _fine_. I'm sure." She sat up a little bit straighter.

"You mean it? You'd never lie to me?" He smiled. "Then what's you're middle name?"

He rolled his eyes. "One moment you're grieving over Eames's imminent death, the next you're badgering me about my middle name."

"Badgering? Au contraire, I believe I simply asked a question. No need to get so defensive."

Arthur had no desire to tell anyone, especially Ariadne, his middle name, but if it kept her happy, he'd go along with it. "My middle name is…" he trailed off.

"Yes?"

"It's…"

"Cat catch your tongue."

"Dante," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Dante," he said at the same volume.

"Could you repeat that, Arthur?"

"Dante! My middle name is Dante!" Ariadne giggled. "Well thanks, I feel awesome now."

She shook her head. "Oh, I think it's cute. Arthur Dante." She smiled. Arthur felt a warm sense of something and he wasn't sure what it was. As he smiled back, Ariadne bit her lip and looked away. He suddenly realized he _liked _making the architect smile.

"So what's your middle name?"

"Oh," she laughed. "Sophia. More Greek. Really surprising, right?"

"Are you actually from Greece?"

Ariadne shook her head. "My mom was and my dad's parent's were. But I'm all American. You?"

"I've lived in that house since I was born." Arthur pushed his hair back. It wasn't often he talked about his family. He wasn't all that open and he wasn't really around enough people interested in his life. The last person he had talked to about anything was a mistake. "I grew up in a museum, unable to touch anything. I could look and see how pretty it was, but if I even breathed on it, my mother would know and come swooping in."

Ariadne grimaced. "That must have been awful."

"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "But you, what was it like to live with a painter?"

Ariadne opened her mouth. "Êtes-vous deux ici pour Eames?" They duo looked up. A tall man with wavy hair stood before them. Ariadne felt he probably spent more time on his appearance than his patients. Arthur nodded, understanding the French easily. Ariadne's attention had been captured at the mention of Eames. "Il est juste au bout du couloir. Il se réveille environ maintenant." Arthur nodded again and he and Ariadne stood up. The doctor gave Ariadne a once over before grinning. "Eh bien, bonjour superbe. Comment allez-vous ce soir?"

"She's great," Arthur said, gritting his teeth. "We'll be going now, thanks." He gripped Ariadne's arm and pulled her down the hall way. "I hate French people," he muttered.

Ariadne stared ahead, rummaging through the storage files in her mind holding the fragments of the French language. Before she could piece together the sentence, they entered Eames's room.

His face was pale and his hair was disheveled, but apart from that and the cast upon his right leg, he seemed to be his normal charming self. "Ah, Arthur, Ariadne!" His smile spread across his face.

Ariadne ripped her arm from Arthur's hand and power-walked over to Eames's cheap hospital bed. She collapsed across his chest. "I'm so happy you're okay!" she exclaimed. Arthur closed the door and went to sit at the foot of the bed. Eames laughed and laced his arms around Ariadne's torso. "I thought you were dead."

His laughter rumbled through his chest. "Quite the contrary. I only broke my leg. Not even a concussion. I was actually hoping for one."

Ariadne sat up, her back almost resting against Arthur's side. "How did you fall?" she asked, crossing her legs. Losing her balance, Arthur caught her and pushed her back up.

Eames's eyebrows rose as he began a tale that was mostly fabricated, but Ariadne and Arthur listened and laughed anyway. Strange as it was, this was the most peaceful moment they'd had since they had come home.

* * *

I quite honestly have NO idea what the process of hospital's in France are, and I couldn't find anything on it. Sorry, guys.

Anyway, the next chapter should have more drama (right, don't we have enough). A certain girl is going to show up in France :D

Oh, you should look up what the doctor says to Ariadne ;)

again, I LOVE YOU GUYS. Stay amazing!


	9. Maid of Horror

Hi Guys.  
I'm really, really sorry it took me forever on this. There's been sooooo much going on lately that I haven't had the chance to do much of anything, plus I keep getting ahead of myself in the writing. I have so much to tell you, but I keep forgetting! Ugh, I really need to write it down.

Anyway, go to google, search "Inception Meme Tumblr". Then, click on the top result and look through every. single. page.

* * *

Chapter 9

"Yes," Ariadne said, masking her laugh. "Eames is fine. Arthur and I are taking care of him."

"Arthur is doing bloody nothing, Cobb!" Eames yelled across the room. "Doesn't even know how to ice a blasted injury," he added in a murmur. Arthur's fist clenched around the continuously melting ice pack.

"You move every time I try to put it on your head," he growled. "If you would stop flinching every time I get near you, this would be easier."

"Can you blame me, Arthur? You did send an army at us."

Arthur jumped up and threw the ice pack square at Eames's crotch. He glared at him and moved to Eames's elegant bar stool. Ariadne couldn't hide her laugh this time and giggled. "Honestly Cobb, I can handle them. Right." She nodded, listening to his response. "Alright, say hello to James and Phillipa for me."

She hung up the phone and turned to the two men before her. "Could you two possibly play nice for a few minutes while I'm on the phone?"

Arthur just scoffed and Eames laughed. "Sure, mother." Ariadne smiled and plopped onto Eames's ornate couch that cost him more than she wanted to think about.

Eames was fresh from the hospital with about six months for a full recovery. To Arthur's dismay, he had been required as much bed rest as possible for the next few weeks. His view was that they come in the morning, bring him food then leave to seek out jobs and become as good of extractors and Cobb was.

But Ariadne wouldn't hear it. "He just fell down a flight of stairs. I'm not going to make him sit all alone in an apartment all day." She had said it so fiercely Arthur had held back his argument.

Ariadne crossed her legs. "Eames, are you okay? Do you need any more pain medication?"

Eames's lips opened to reply. "No, Ariadne," Arthur cut in. "He doesn't." Ariadne gave him her you-need-to-shut-up-right-now look and he sighed. Eames coughed, hoping to interrupt their intimate glare off.

"Actually, Ariadne," he projected, "don't you have to be at a fitting?"

Her eyes widened. "Of course! Right, right, right, for Ellen's wedding." She jumped up to grab her bag and stopped short. "Are you sure you'll be okay alone?"

"What do you mean, alone?" Arthur asked.

Ariadne stuffed her hand in her pocket. "Well…we took your car here, and you won't allow me on public transit, so you're going to have to take me to the little boutique that Ellen picked out. Or you could let me drive. Or take the bus, like normal people here do." It was clear Arthur would have to take Ariadne. He didn't trust the people of Paris with her, even though Ariadne reminded him she had lived there the past four years for college without his stringent protection. When Eames asked him why he only wanted to stick so close to Ariadne and not himself, Arthur would start mumbling and throwing things in his bag with more force.

"Where is the shop?" Arthur asked, gladly taking his keys out of his pocket.

Ariadne stood up. "Down near the warehouse. Almost right across the street, actually. That's how I get around having you drive me places." Arthur looked up as if she had slapped him. Eames grinned and Ariadne giggled.

"You know you need to be safe, what we do is very-"

"Oh, don't give me that Arthur. I'm allowed to walk across the street without you. It's not like we have a case right now, anyway." She was still smiling but Arthur scowled. He just held up his keys and jingled them. Ariadne waved her hand, telling him she'd meet him downstairs. He took the dismissal and left Eames's living room, planning to have her meet him at the car.

He had his hand on the crystal handle when he remembered he left his water bottle in the kitchen. He moved back, ready to tell Ariadne to move it along when he heard her and Eames's hushed voices.

"Don't mess with him too much, Ariadne." Eames's accent made the end of her name slur together. Arthur's senses were heightened, but all he heard was the chiming of Ariadne's laugh. He peered around the corner to see Ariadne ruffled Eames's hair.

"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself, Eames?" she asked.

"Okay? I'll be fantastic. I'm sick of you two." Ariadne laughed again, leaning down to give him a hug. Arthur watched as the embrace lasted. After what felt like an eon to Arthur, Eames let go of Ariadne. She kissed him on the forehead and ruffled his hair one last time before turning to leave.

She spotted Arthur. "Hey," she said. Reading his expression wrong, she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, I'm coming."

The ride was mostly silent. When Arthur pulled to a stop in front of the windows filled with brightly colored dress, Ariadne grabbed her bag. She opened the door and looked back to Arthur. He gave her a half wave. When she didn't get up, Arthur sighed. "What?"

"Ellen demanded I bring you in. She wants to say hi." Arthur thought to argue, but he thought of the fierce spirit in Ariadne's best friend and knew he didn't have a chance. He pulled the key out the ignition and flung his door open. Ariadne's face lit up.

A bell rang as they opened the door. The first impression Ariadne had was pink. It was everywhere. The chandeliers, the carpeting, the shelving, and at least half the dresses. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach. She was sure Ellen had told her the dress was green. She had pictured a black and white, chic boutique with long, dark ball gowns and classy jewelry lining the walls. Instead, the pink swallowed her. She glanced at Arthur who was scanning the shop with cynical eyes. His eyelids thinned as the hot pink ceiling panels appeared in his line of sight. He turned to meet Ariadne's eyes with an incredulous expression. Ariadne gave him a half smile and shrugged.

"Aria? Is that you? Aria!" Ellen's boisterous voice rang from the back of the shop. She jumped from behind mannequin wearing an orange sunset dress. "Hi hi! I'm so glad you're here! I can't get married without my maid of honor, can I?" She leaped towards Ariadne.

Ariadne staggered backwards but laughed as she embraced her best friend. "Hey, Ellen," she said. "I thought you said my dress was green?"

Ellen 'pshed' and noticed Arthur. "Hi Arthur!" She shoved Ariadne away and connected her arms around Arthur. "How are you?" He awkwardly patted her back.

"Hi," he said. Ellen stepped back and beamed at him.

"It's so awesome to see you again! Will you be staying for the appointment?"

Arthur's face pleaded with Ariadne. She cleared her throat. Ellen turned to her. "Actually, Arthur has to go be with Eames. He broke his leg." She certainly didn't want Arthur of all people to see her in some frou-frou dress Ellen would pick.

"Oh no!" Ellen said. It seemed to Ariadne that her friend's heart truly was breaking at the thought of Eames being hurt. "Well you need to go. Right now, okay? Don't leave him alone for too long!" Now instead of clinging to Arthur, she started to push him out of the shop. As they reached the door, she gave him one more sharp thrust before he stumbled out onto the sidewalk. The door slammed shut and the bell rattled.

Arthur looked over his shoulder but Ellen moved into back into Ariadne's line of sight. "Now that the icky boy is gone, let's get your dress on you and see how amazing you'll look on my wedding day!"

All thoughts of Arthur disintegrated when she caught sight of a large, over-the-top pale pink dress. The only redeeming feature of the heinous dress was the fact that it was a pale pink instead of Ellen's usual vivid pink. Gratitude filled Ariadne. Ellen knew the bright colors washed out her face and Ariadne was sure her best friend picked the washed out shade for her.

"Isn't it just fabulous, Aria? I love it!"

Fabulous wasn't how Ariadne would have described it. It was fitted from the rhinestone encrusted sweet heart neckline to just under the belly button; after that, it exploded into and skirt full of pick-ups and sparkles. She had the feeling she would look like a cupcake once it was on.

Ellen sprinted to the hanger and turned the dress around. The back was cut away in a diamond shape, with fake diamonds along the edges. "Antoine! Viens par ici s'il vous plaît, elle est prête à être monté!" Ellen took Ariadne's hand and dragged her into the dressing room. "You're going to look awesome!"

A man with bleach blonde hair and a pinched nose came to Ellen's side. "Est-ce la fille qui porte la robe?" Ellen bobbed her head. "Elle est parfaite! Magnifique!"

Before Ariadne could protest, the curtain was shut and Antoine was pulling her shirt off. She wasn't fond of people touching, even for something like this. When she was down to her bra and underwear, he took the dress off the rack. "How're you doing in there?" Ellen yelled, as if the curtain was a door. Ariadne stepped into the mountain of poof and groaned.

"I could have sworn you told me it was going to be green."

"It is Green," Ellen called much louder than was needed. "The dress was made by Marion Green. She specializes in bridesmaid dresses, and I knew I'd have to go to her for your dress! You're my maid of honor, so you obviously need the best dress."

Antoine zipped up the side of the dress. It was remarkably snug for a dress without a back. "Are you saying that Claire, Miranda, Talulah, and Taylor are not wearing this dress?"

"God, no! They're wearing the same color, of course, but a much simpler dress. You're my best friend, therefore you deserve the best." Ariadne kept her groan back as Antoine opened the curtain. Ellen's eyes sparkled. "Ariadne you look so beautiful. This color makes your hair shine. You're such a pretty person."

Ariadne couldn't help but smile. She felt guilty for even thinking of commenting on the dress. Ellen had been so good to her. And it was her own fault she had no choice in the matter of the dress. She had been working with Cobb and the crew on the day Ellen went shopping. Ariadne had simply sent Ellen her measurements through text.

The small bride marched up the stairs to the mirror. She pointed at Ariadne and spun her hand in a circle. Ariadne obediently turned her body in a full three-sixty. "Well," Ellen said, her voice becoming much more business-like, "you'll have to go bra-less." Losing the more adult attitude, and returning to her bubbly self, she leaned next to Ariadne. "I don't think Arthur will mind."

Ariadne coughed. "A-Arthur?"

"Aria," Ellen said, smirking. "One, you're my best friend. I know you don't think so, but I'm used to the way you act. You're head. Over. Heels. And two, I personally _am _head over heels, so I can tell when someone else is. Especially you!" She poked Ariadne the shoulder.

Attempting to ignore Ellen, she turned to the mirror.

Was she head over heels for Arthur? This wasn't the first time someone had said something about the two of them. But she couldn't tell her self it was love. She knew what love looked like- her parents had a fairytale marriage- but she had no clue what it _felt _like. She'd always been skeptical about those people who said that they were in love, days into a relationship.

But she couldn't say there wasn't something there. The way he looked at her, the times he unnecessarily touched her, the fact that he would _not _let her go _any_where without him. She was sick of fighting with herself. She sighed.

Ellen's aura dropped down. "Do you not like it?" she asked, immediately examining the dress.

"No, no," Ariadne said, stopping Ellen from kneeling down on the ground. When she looked up, Ariadne smiled. "I promise, I love it. I just don't want it to distract from you, though. It's your wedding day."

Ellen just shook her head. "Ariadne, you know I have no problem with attracting attention." She turned Ariadne to look in the mirror. "Look at you," she said, leaning in again. "You look beautiful." She forced her to look in the mirror. She snapped her fingers and Antoine brought her a necklace with chunks of faux diamonds that Ariadne was to wear on the day of the wedding. She connected the clasp and stepped away from her best friend.

Ariadne fiddled with the jewels. She'd never worn a dress like this, never seen the point…but she hadn't ever felt like this either. She twirled around to look at the back of the dress. Without her bra strap abstracting the overall image, the cut was actually more elegant than expected. Ellen's words rang in her ears.

"_I don't think Arthur will mind._"

* * *

I feel like my chapters keep getting shorter and shorter which really annoys me and it makes me feel really bad for you guys. I'm sorry =/  
Oh, fun fact for y'all. In the movie, little James (the one in the flashback and when they show up in his dreams) is played by Christopher Nolan's son, Magnum.  
Anyway, I really hope to get you a new chapter as soon as possible, okay? Because I have all this stuff due week after next, so if I get you a chapter done by Tuesday then I should be able to get you another one in soonish. (:

Another sidenote, I was on sparknotes and at the top of the page there was an ad that said "It's almost Valentine's day and you know what that means...Time to write creepy love letters to Joseph Gordon-Levitt!"  
made my day.

I. LOVE. YOU. GUYS.

STAY AMAZINNNG.


	10. Unplanned Parenthood

**Hi hi hi hi hi!  
-Insert excuses, excuses, excuses-**

**please, just read and then I'll have the author's note at the bottom. **

The tapping of Eames's laptop was a Chinese water torture on Ariadne's ears. The hours the triad had spent in the warehouse, researching things they'd looked into thousands of times before, throwing ideas off the ceiling beams, arguing over the brain's capacity were numerous. They were beginning to wear on Ariadne's patience.

Arthur grabbed yet another piece of pizza while the only female in the room cringed. He stuffed half of the piece in his mouth and started to chew loudly. Ariadne knew she shouldn't judge; she had, on an occasion, eaten six slices in one sitting. But _two_ pizzas? And he just _had _to chew with his mouth open.

He caught Ariadne's incredulous glance and grinned, pizza oozing from the sides of his mouth. When the glare didn't die down, he sighed and wiped his mouth. "What, Ariadne?" he said, aggravation dripping over the five syllables. Eames looked up from the laptop screen, watching the events unfold.

"Could you maybe chew with your mouth closed?"

"I don't know. Possibly."

"How 'bout you try it, hm?"

"How 'bout you try to stop being a controlling-"

"Alright!" The two turned to Eames. His daunting eyes were illuminated by the screen in the darkness. "You two need to calm down. Ariadne, you could have asked him politely. Arthur, you were being a bit obnoxious. Both of you need to stop getting at each other's throats for everything. We need to act like the adults we supposedly are or this isn't going work. You both need to be more flexible and get over whatever this is. If I have to fly bloody Cobb out here, I won't be happy. I'm not your parent and I don't plan to step in as one. This isn't high school or college and acting like the world revolves around you could get you killed in something like the Fischer job. If you two cannot handle the pressure, then I'll be packing my bags." Ariadne gripped the arm of her chair. "Please. I'm sick of it. You were getting along pretty well in LA, now weren't you?" He put his hand on his leg, shifting it to a lower footstool. "You need to focus on something other than the burning romantic tension between you."

Ignoring the comment, Arthur stood up. When Ariadne didn't move, he spread his arms wide and grinned again, greatly resembling Will in that moment. "You have got to be kidding me," she muttered. Arthur's eyes flashed to Eames, telling her this had to be done. Ariadne attempted to weigh the consequences on the balance scales in her head. They wavered, at one point favoring stubbornly sitting in silence and then standing up and giving the man of her dreams a hug dropped down, nearly hitting the floor.

Ariadne had let herself believe she had feelings for Arthur, even though she was convinced they were fabricated, only to keep her sane. Telling Eames may have the worst or best mistake she could have made. Knowing that it would give her some sort of sick pleasure, she stood up to hug the smirking point man.

When she was pulled into his arms, a sense of calm fell over her. "I am sorry," Arthur whispered in her ear. She shivered and tried to back away, but he wouldn't let her. "You know, you looked really pretty in that dress."

This time she did back away and looked down. When Arthur had come to pick her up the day before, she had still been in the mass of pink and sparkles. Even with Antoine shutting the curtains, Arthur had caught a glimpse of Ariadne before Ellen began to speak about her wedding in great extent.

"Good," Eames said. "Let's make this kiss-and-make-up thing happen more often, eh?"

Before Ariadne could think of a retort, there was a piercing bang from downstairs. The windows around them shook and there was yelling from outside. "Arthur?" When Arthur, Ariadne, and Eames just stood shell shocked, the voice came again. "Arthur! Please, open the door!" They looked at each other before Ariadne fled down the stairs. By the time she reached the bottom, the banging had stopped. She threw open the tall doors of the ware house and looked outside.

There stood Fancy Petrelli. Her hands were shoved in the back pockets of her jeans and her hair was damp from the rain that had started an hour ago. She was staring at the water on the ground, looking truly defeated. When she heard the door hinges groan, her face lit up. "Oh!" she exclaimed, grabbing Ariadne in an Ellen-like manner. "Ariadne, I'm so, so glad to see you. I-I tried to go to Arthur's apartment that he wrote his mom from, but he wasn't there and his neighbor said that he was always at this big warehouse and he said it was near here and I j-just can't believe I found you guys." Ariadne stood still with the small supermodel's arms around her. She noticed a huge Louis Vuitton suitcase and a smaller, equally expensive, duffle bag on the steps. Not comprehending, Arthur and Eames finally made it to the entryway, Arthur heaving from supporting Eames's weight, Eames laughing because his broken leg was able to cause other's pain.

"Ari," Arthur said, stopping. "Who was at the- Fancy?" Arthur dropped Eames, and Fancy let go of Ariadne to catch him. Arthur glanced down. "Sorry Eames. I forgot you were immobile." Eames just rolled his eyes and smiled gratefully at Fancy.

"Thank you, Mrs. Petrelli."

The French girl grimaced. "You're welcome." She nodded and Arthur helped Eames stand back up. An awkward quiet washed over them. Fancy out her hand in her hair and a tear fell from her eye. She turned to Arthur. "I…need your help."

They all stared at her. Eames hadn't known Fancy for but a short period of time and Ariadne even less. Arthur had known her since a week or so before his brother's wedding, but he hadn't ever seen her ask for _help._ The only thing she had ever asked for was "diet water", and that was at the rehearsal dinner.

Fancy's tear ducts began to work in overdrive, and the tear stains mixed with the mist from the Parisian rain. Ariadne became intensely aware of those passing by them, some looking curiously to see why four people who obviously had shelter would rather stand outside, others hoping to catch a glimpse of drama that would make their mediocre lives more entertaining. Since she had begun dream sharing, anyone who cast their attention on her made her uncomfortable.

"Maybe we should take this inside, guys?" Arthur looked out to at the innocent pedestrians and back to Ariadne.

"Ari's right." He said it with finality and Fancy nodded and wiped her eyes. "Fancy, do you think you could help Eames?"

"Bien sûr," Fancy said, immediately throwing Eames's right arm of her shoulders. Arthur grabbed the suitcase and handed Ariadne the duffle bag. He smiled and she took that as a thanks.

After a long walk up the stairs, they were all sitting in a makeshift circle of lawn chairs. Arthur was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his forehead. "Fancy, does Will know you're here?"

She shrugged and looked anywhere but his eyes. "I do not know. He may or he may not. I do not care." She seemed half indifferent, half heartbroken.

Arthur sighed. "Well, I don't think that he knows, because my mother hasn't sent out an international search party for you." Fancy bit her lip and nodded again. "Fancy. Fancy. Fancy!" She jerked up. "Why are you here?"

Ariadne shifted on her seat next to Eames, who also looked interested.

"Will m'a trompé."

"Excuse _me_?" Arthur asked.

Fancy exhaled deeply. "Will cheated on me."

Arthur sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Asshole," he muttered.

Eames, slowing and gently, asked, "Could you explain?"

Fancy ran her hands through her hair. "Will and I have been married since a month after I turned eighteen. Our second anniversary was just before you all visited us. Ever since we returned from our honeymoon, Will had been becoming less and less affectionate. I thought that that was part of being married, as the only couple I had had ever seen interact was his parents."

"And they have a wonderful relationship," Arthur said, resentment coloring his words.

"After I realized that it wasn't a part of marriage, I started to blame myself. Whenever we fought, I always brought it back it to myself. I went on a downward spiral. I missed my job, my city of Paris, and most importantly, the Will I met when we first started dating. Recently, he'd been going out. And not just 'hanging out' with his other male model friends, he started to go out with his male model friends' female model friends. Whenever I confronted him about it, he'd laugh it off and tell me I was worrying too much.

I began to spend much more time with the Petrelli's, so often that it became weeks between the times I actually saw our own home, even though it was connected to the estate. Subconsciously, I think I knew what was going on behind our doors, and I wanted to pretend it wasn't." Arthur shook his head. He looked disgusted, but not surprised. Ariadne was. She had met Will. She knew he was a pig. But she couldn't believe that he would ever cheat on someone like Fancy.

Fancy was the kind of girl that every other girl wanted to be. Not just for her looks, even though those were beyond average, but for her heart. She truly thought the best of people, and never put anyone down but herself. Her crystal blue eyes were the center of attention when she walked in a room. She would keep herself awake long into the night with guilt for something she may or may not have done, would cook you an amazing meal she wouldn't eat herself, and would buy you something you could never get without her. She wasn't a wife any man with a full-functioning brain would ever cheat on.

"Yesterday, when I got home from buying groceries, I was planning to stop into Mr. and Mrs. Petrelli's house first, because Lizzie needed help with her homework. She has this speech coming, and of all things that she could have been assigned, she was assigned modeling. And she wanted me to help her, because I was a model. I mean, she could have asked Will, but he was a _male _model and so she asked me. I was going to help with her outfit, though, because that's what _most _people think modeling is, but it isn't. It has to do with attitude, body language, and so many things no one else thinks of. It's such an art."

Eames's cell phone ringing brought her out of her reverie. He shuffled to get it out of his pocket, and frowned when he saw the caller ID. "I'm sorry, but I really must take this." He took his crutches that he wasn't supposed to be using yet and slowly but surely left the room.

Arthur looked at Fancy encouragingly. "Go on," he said.

"Uhm. Well, before I could get to your parent's house, I heard a scream in mine. Nothing even went through my mind at that moment. I just knew that there was a problem. I dropped the groceries and ran inside, not knowing what to expect. There was nothing in the living room or the kitchen. I there was a possibility it was in the guest bedroom or bathroom, but as I was leaving the kitchen, my gut told me my suspicions were correct. That Will was having an affair. It wasn't a scream of terror I heard, but of pleasure."

Ariadne tugged at the scarf around her neck, but Fancy didn't look abashed. She had accepted this about her husband. "I opened the door, and I was wrong. He wasn't cheating on me with Kaitlyn or Chelsea. No." She clasped her hands together. "He was cheating on me with Kaitlyn _and _Chelsea. They were all there on the bed. The bed that Will and I picked out before we got married. I didn't think. I didn't say anything. I know the girls saw me, but Will was so drunk I doubt he knew I was there. I took my suitcase out of the closet and threw everything I saw and just ran. I couldn't go to your parents, Arthur." Hers pleaded with him. "Your mother had to have known, and she didn't say a word. I'm so sorry to become a burden to you three here, but I had no one else to go to."

Arthur thought it over. "Are you going to go back into modeling then?"

Fancy let out a half laugh, half sob. "I can't. I'm pregnant."

**Okay, so I seriously LOVE Fancy. And I'm seriously happy she's back. And that little fight at the beginning is the last one for a while. **

**I'm SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry it took me forEVER to write/publish this. I really just have a list of excuses.**

**I want to thank those of you who ask me to update more often- it makes me feel REALLY special, You have no idea. I want to thank my reviewers, because you guys are legit and can always make me smile. I want to thank my "favoriters" and "story alerters" for making me feel amazing. And mostly, and over all, to my readers. Because you are all brilliant and amazing and I love you so much. Thank you.**

**Academy Awards: Over all happy. My only problem was that Social Network won Musical Score. Other than that, I'm happy with the four Inception won.**

**Again, I love you all.**

**Next Chapter: Excessively Awkward Sleepover.**


	11. Romantic Undertones

**SPRING BREAK, BABY. 3**

**I'll save the author's note for the bottom. Read on my beautiful, wonderful, amazing readers. **

"He _what_?" Eames asked incredulously. Eames had returned from his "very important phone call" and Arthur was filling him in. Fancy was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, not wanting to relive the conversation.

"And she's pregnant. With his child."

Ariadne sat solemnly. She didn't know what to say. She hadn't been close with any other girls but Ellen and her mother, and neither of them had ever been through that. Ariadne's parents stayed married till the day they died and Tom treated Ellen like a queen. She had no experience with men herself and no background to give Fancy any advice. She felt she owed something to the young woman who had actually remembered her name.

Eames leaned back as Arthur had. "Wow, Arthur. I thought your family was messed up with your mother greeted Aemelia with welcome arms, but this is beyond me."

Arthur gave him a "welcome to my world" look. "So your idiotic younger brother cheated on his wife, who is pregnant with his child, and her first response is 'Let's go to Arthur'?" Silence. "She really is a bad judge of character, isn't she? First Will, and then coming to you of all people for comfort?"

Instead of being pissed off as usual, Arthur held up his hand in a helpless way. "I don't know what to do. She's my sister-in-law. If I side with her, my mother will kill me, and on top of that, she's all pregnant and hormonal. I strive to refrain from being around pregnant women. I steered clear of the Cobb's house each time Mal was pregnant. It wasn't worth my head being chopped off."

As if on cue, the warehouse's tall ceilings echoed Fancy's sobs from the doorway. Arthur's eyes slid shut and he pulled off his jacket. "Crap!" he yelled, bringing himself to Ariadne and Eames's attention. "Where is she going to stay?"

"She can't stay with you?" Ariadne asked, speaking up.

Arthur lit up. "You! You're a girl."

_I would hope you'd know that, seeing as you've _kissed _me, more than one._ "Thanks for noticing."

"I'm sorry," Arthur said, actually sounding apologetic. "Since Mal died, we haven't really had a girl in the group. It's just, Fancy could stay with you, couldn't she?"

"No, no, no, no," Ariadne was quick to protest. "That's not a good idea."

"And why not?" It was Eames. He looked curious, which annoyed Ariadne. He was usually on her side when she and Arthur talked, but now Eames seemed to have no problem with his request.

"Because…"

"Please, Ariadne? I have no idea what to do and you're the only one I'd trust with this. She's obviously not stable and she needs another girl. Invite Ellen over for the first night, it could be like some sort of sleepover. Please, Ari, I need you."

_Seriously, _she thought, _I need to stop being so weak._ But he had called her Ari and this was the first time he had ever said he _needed_ her. "Fine."

"Look," he said. Ariadne waited for an answer, when Eames's phone went off. Again. He sighed.

"Yes?" he practically snarled, hitting the green button. A female voice replied. "No, you can't. This is an awful time." Ignoring the woman's reply he held out his hands for his crutches that were laid out on Ariadne's chair. After getting adjusted, he left the point man and the architect alone to finish his phone call.

"I really appreciate this," he said, smiling.

"I'm doing it for Fancy. Not you."

"Hey," he said, still smiling. "I know I've been a jerk lately."

"That's one way of putting it," Ariadne said.

His smile grew. "But I've had a lot on my mind, and I know that's not an excuse, but I just want you to not take all things I've said personally."

Ariadne's will power and bluntness returned to her. "Arthur, tell me how I wouldn't take anything personally? You throw me in so many different directions and I _don't _appreciate it. I never have a read on you, and I can tell you do it on purpose."

Arthur lost some of the smile, but he didn't seem angry. Just thoughtful. "No one really has a read on me. How do you mean I throw you in different directions?"

"I mean, you, who are constantly business, business, business, kiss me in the middle of a near suicide mission. It just makes no sense."

He held his hands in the air. "I thought it would make the projections look away, scouts honor." _He's bluffing._ When he spoke, his eyes tilted down, to the creative part of the brain. His false assurance was marred by the overstated confidence he put behind it. But Ariadne still didn't have a definitive _why _of the kiss, just a _why not_.

"Sure. What about the restaurant in LA?"

"What about it?"

"Well, for one, why did you say we were engaged?"

"I was pretty near drunk, Ariadne."

"Bull," she said. He raised his eyebrows. "You only had two beers, and that was after Joe asked. Why?"

"I wanted to humor Joe. What's the harm in that?"

"If it was Eames, it'd make perfect sense. But you don't joke, Arthur. It's not you. Why was that night any different?"

"There's an aberration to every rule, Ariadne."

She let it slide. He'd find a way around it no matter what. "Then why did you kiss me?"

Quick as a beat, "People who are engaged kiss. They wanted us to, so I kissed you."

"Then why did you treat me like a roadside whore afterwards? Why would you kiss me, twice, and ignore me for a four hour plane ride? Why would you leave me to your mother's hateful words with nothing but my own defenses that were already low? Why, Arthur, am I not supposed to take all this personally? Because it's not Eames that you make feel worthless, it's not Eames that you let your mother attack, it's not Eames that never knows how to act around you. One moment, you just _must_ drive me everywhere, the next I'm a control freak? Just tell me how to not take this all personally and I won't."

"That's a lot of questions." And it was. Ariadne had not only pointed out the elephant in the room, but described it perfectly. She pulled out the details she hadn't wanted to acknowledge before, but now, facing her fears, laid them on the table. The only thing she couldn't bring herself to ask, straight out, was how he felt about her.

"And you haven't answered any of them." This wasn't a fight, it was a discussion they both desperately needed.

"And I can't, because most of them I don't know the answer too." He put his hands on her shoulders. "I know my word isn't much, but please, and I repeat, do not take it personally. I need to get my mind straight."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Is it possible, Miss Ariadne, that you have feelings for me?"

She scoffed. "No. I just don't like guys messing with me. It's annoying."

Eames limped back in, the phone clasped in his hand. "She wants to talk to you," he said, making Arthur scowl.

"I thought I made it clear I had no intention of ever speaking to her again?"

"She says that she's sure you must…need her."

"If I needed her, I would have called her. Tell her to leave me alone."

The atmosphere changed. "Lia, he doesn't want to talk to you." Pause. "Yes, I'm back in Paris."

"Eames!" Arthur yelled. He grabbed the phone and slammed it shut. "Why would you tell her where we are?"

"Because she's my sister?"

"You hate your sister!"

"Give me my phone, Arthur."

"No."

"Arthur, I'm crippled."

"Are you going to call her back?"

"I think she's calling _me _back. Unless you'd like to answer it, give me the phone."

Arthur glanced at the phone for a moment. He hit the flashing green button. "Thanks for hanging up on me," a bored voice snarled.

Turning on the speaker phone and taking a deep breath, Arthur opened his mouth and let out a long, loud, holler. Then, as if he'd done nothing, he shoved the phone in his pocket and sat back down, fuming.

"Well," Ariadne said. "That was nice."

"I'm going to take you and Fancy to your apartment now, okay?"

"This is my apartment," Ariadne said, putting Fancy's fancy suitcase aside the counter. "You'll be on the couch." Fancy glanced around, clearly accustomed to the quaintness of the French apartments.

"You read," she said simply. "A lot."

Ariadne looked at the stocked bookshelves across the walls. "I used to," she replied.

This apartment wasn't a hotspot for social interactions. The most people she'd ever had in here at once were three, including her. That was only when Ellen demanded that she, Ariadne, and Tom all have a gratuitous luncheon or the day Arthur and Eames had dropped her off.

"Thank you," Fancy spoke up. "I know that you must be busy."

"How do you figure?"

Fancy smiled. "Arthur is rarely home in New York. Whatever his career or hobby is, it keeps him busy. You're obviously into the same sort of thing as he is." Ariadne's expression showed she was right. "I admire you. I wish I could do something I loved."

Seeing that this was about to result in a pity party, shifted topics. "I'm going to call my friend Ellen. She loves to meet new people."

Fancy flipped her hair back and made her way to the bookshelves. Ariadne took off her jacket and put in on the peg. Ignoring Arthur's sister-in-law, she hit the lit up number one on her cell. It only rang once before a joyful "Hi Aria!" was shouted in her ear.

"Hey, Ellen," she said. "Do you want to sleep over? Arthur's sist-"

"Yes! I would love too!"

"It's because Fancy is he-"

"I'll be right over!" The line went dead. Fancy had moved from the book cases to the coat rack.

"What's in your pocket?"

Ariadne opened a cabinet. "Uhm, some money, my keys, my…" Remembering suddenly as Fancy reached in the pocket, she ran to the wall. She yanked the jacket off the hook. "Sorry," she said, trying to think of a way to explain her haste. Coming up blank, she flashed a smile and rushed to her room. She plopped onto her bed and spilled the contents of her front pocket over the comforter.

Spotting the shimmer of gold, she grabbed her totem and stuffed it into the back pocket of her jeans. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. _It's not that she didn't trust Fancy. It's that she didn't trust _anyone _when it came to dreaming and she couldn't believe she'd been thick enough to leave her totem in her jacket. A jacket she hardly wore for that matter. The only reason she'd worn it that day was because she left her other one at Eames's apartment.

Ariadne didn't have enough will power to try to explain to Fancy why she would act that way, so she decided to stay in her dimly lit room until Ellen arrived.

It wasn't long before there was a musical knocking on the front door. "Ariadne! I'm here!" Ariadne wondered why Ellen felt the need to proclaim her arrival. It was one of those things proof wasn't necessary for- everyone knew.

Ariadne approached the living room. Fancy asked, "Aren't you going to get that?" Ariadne laughed and shook her head. "Ellen doesn't actually want me to open the door. She feels more welcome if she can burst through."

Sure enough, the door flew up and hit the wall against several marks from Ellen's previous visits. "Hello!" she said.

Apartment 14 A's door opened. A disgruntled man pushed Ellen out of the way. "Miss Adonis, how many times do I have to tell you, I need my sleep and I'm sick of your loud noises?"

Ariadne made sure all was well with Ellen, before approaching the short Asian man who was fuming in the doorway. "Excuse me, sir, I understand that you're upset, but maiming my friend won't help you with you with that."

"She was in my way."

"There's no need to be ridiculous."

"I don't think it's ridiculous to expect peace and quiet, Miss Adonis."

"No, it's not, but it's also not ridiculous to expect your neighbors not to shove your friends to the floor."

His short arms shook. "I warn you Adonis, if you cross me one more time, there will be consequences to pay."

Ariadne gave a sweet smile. "Je vous remercie pour votre mise en garde, mais si j'étais vous, je serais plus inquietque menaçant. Je peux infecter votre esprit, de changer vos pensées, créer des mondes que vous avez jamais rêvé. Avoir une belle soirée, monsieur."

Fluent in only English, Ken shrank away. "I'm warning you." He shook his finger back and forth as a metronome.

"Buh-bye," Ariadne said. Positive he was still in the hallway, she gave her door a good slam, causing the railings to rattle. "That was pleasant."

Ellen popped up, pushing the moment behind her. "Hi! You must be Fancy, Arthur's sister-in-law? You are so friggin gorgeous, did you know that? I can definitely tell you were a model. I love your hair, I bet it takes hours to get it like that. I'm Ellen, B-T-W. Ariadne is my best friend! We met through my fiancé a while back!"

"Ellen, do you honestly need to tell everyone your story?" Ariadne knew the answer and sat down in a lounge chair with a book. Ellen would be entertainment enough. This is why she had called her and why Arthur had suggested it. Ellen could take anyone's mind off of whatever was stressing them. Ariadne cracked open the book and Ellen and Fancy started talking as Ellen made herself comfortable on the couch with her

"So, what's it like to be a model?" Ellen asked, her eagerness shining through. She struck gold. If there was one thing Fancy enjoyed talking about, it was herself. Any chance she got, Fancy was the subject matter of her conversations.

"Well, it's a lot more than a catwalk. Really, it's an art."

Ariadne smiled, happy to get to spend some quality time with a good book. It was half an hour later when her phone beeped.

_How's it going with Fancy? I really do appreciate this you know, Ariadne._

She let out an involuntary giggle.

Ellen and Fancy looked up. Ariadne flushed and put her phone in her pocket without replying.

"Aria, who was that?"

"No one."

But of course Ellen couldn't take that. She lunged for Ariadne and stole the phone as if she was a burglar intent on making out with the loot. "Arthur? You're texting Arthur?"

"He texted me."

"Is this a regular thing?"

Fancy perked up. "Do you like Arthur?"

"No."

"She's lying," Ellen said, quickly typing a message back to Arthur. "Whenever she sees him, she lights up and whenever someone talks about him she blushes. She's totally falling hard. Like legit, falling off the Eiffel Tower for him."

Ariadne frowned. She wasn't _that _obvious. She couldn't be. Ellen must just know her. Ariadne never admitted to anyone but Eames.

Seeming to let Arthur drop out of her mind, Ellen hopped up. "Can I get some dinner?" she asked. She was already in the kitchen before Ariadne could answer. "Awesome thanks."

Ariadne gave Fancy a quick smile before following Ellen in. "Hey, I really need to take a shower. Keep Fancy company for me?"

"Isn't that what I'm here for?" She closed the cabinet door, revealing her smile.

"You're the best!"

"I know!" Ellen reached up and pulled down a dusty bottle of wine. "You said you didn't drink?"

"I don't," Ariadne laughed. "Ken," she pointed at the wall she and her disgruntled neighbor shared, "gave me it when I moved in. I'm pretty sure that it came from his ex wife's wedding. He seems like someone who would steal from a wedding of all places."

"Let's not invite him to mine, then!"

They laughed. "Right, well I'm going to take my shower. You can have that."

"I was going to take it either way."

The shower steam poured over the curtain, clouding the mirror. Ariadne rubbed at the steam and looked at her eyes. The bags weren't as visible has she had come accustomed and she was glad. She wrapped the towel securely around herself and entered her room to put on her pajamas. A loud cackle Ellen only let out when drunk-dialing echoed throughout the apartment. Her voice came through muffled, but Ariadne thought she heard something like, "Oh Arthur, you're so silly." Knowing that all boundary lines were blurred where Ellen was involved, she ran into the living room.

"Ellen!" she called. "What're you doing?"

"Ooooooooh, Arthur," Ellen giggled. "Aradne's here noooow. Hey Aria, are you in a towel? Why are you in a towel? Hey, Arthur! Wanna talk to Ariadne? She's like, in a towel. It's pink. She hates pink. Pink is so cute though. I loooove it. But you should talk to Ariadne. And then fall in love with her! Omg, and then you can totally have a double wedding with me and Tom! It'd be sooo much fun, right? I'll call him right now on my phone while you talk to your lover on hers. Kay? Kay!"

Ariadne's face was more pink thank the towel around her. Ellen held out her phone. Fancy was passed out across the couch, her arm across her stomach. Ariadne knew the moment Ellen saw that Ariadne was talking to Arthur, she'd pass out from the alcohol.

She regretfully took the phone away from her beaming best friend. Bracing herself she let out a, "Hello."

It was quiet on the other end of the call. "Is Ellen drunk?"

"Uhm, yes." She felt a thump on her foot and looked down to see that Ellen had in fact fallen asleep. "Well, she was. Now she's knocked out on the floor."

"Gotcha."

"What exactly did she say before I got in the room?"

"Oh, nothing important."

Ariadne was too tired to pry. "Alright, I guess I'll be going to bed now."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Arthur."

**French Translation. "**_Thank you for your warning, but if I were you I'd be more worried than threatening. I caninfect your mind, change your thoughts, create worlds that you never dreamed of. Havea nice evening, sir._** "**

**Have I mentioned how much I love Ellen? Because I truly, really do. **

**Also, have I mentioned how much I love y'all? Because if I haven't, I really should. You guys raise the roof, rock my socks, etc, etc, etc! Thank you for all the loving comments, telling me you want me to update, talking about the characters, guessing what comes next, but most of all, for reading my work. It means a lot.**

**A quick shout out to Tatiana for being amazing. Without her and the numerous, numerous, numerous brainstorming sessions we've had in her house, in her car, in my house, at school, at the mall, etc etc etc, this wouldn't exist. She's awesome and I have no clue why she puts up with me. She's an amazing friend!**

**Is anyone else creepily loving on Big Time Rush? Because I am and I think it may become a legit problem.**

**AGAIN, YOU'RE ALL AMAZING. **


	12. Fantastic Phone Calls

**I'm back. Sorry! AN at the bottom- but, this is set during the last chapter, but what's going on with Arthur. :)**

Arthur stared at his phone sitting on the table. He had to call Will, but he didn't know where to start. Fancy, he decided.

He picked up the phone. Then put it back down. Dealing with Fancy immediately would be too abrupt, to accusatory, and Will would just hang up. He picked up the phone. He'd say something cryptic about Chelsea and Kaitlyn. He put the phone back down. Will would never pick up on anything. He didn't have that many brain cells. He picked up the phone, this time determined _not _to put it down until he used it.

He was beyond glad that this conversation (when he acquired the guts to make the call) would not go down when Fancy was around. He had enough trouble talking to Will, and having to mask the things he said as to not offend Fancy would just make it more complicated.

Not wanting to put the phone down, again, but not wanting to deal with his family just yet, Arthur opened up a text message with a sigh. _**How's it going with Fancy?**_ There, he thought. Now Ariadne can't say I ignore her. He almost hit send before backing out again. What if she thought it was impersonal? Then she'd become angry and he's have to have another veiled conversation with her. He wasn't sure that he would be able to keep his thoughts in check this time._ I really do appreciate __**this you know, Ariadne**_he finally added. Punching the send button with his thumb, he threw the phone on the coffee table and stood up.

It vibrated and he glanced at the screen. A message from Ariadne _**Anything for you Arthur ;). **_He ignored it, choosing to focus on the task at hand.

This was different for him. He wasn't accustomed to having his own problems, let alone other people's problems on top of his. He was reminded of the time after Mal's death.

"_You're where?" Arthur asked, his best friend on the other line._

"_I can't tell you, but it's not America. I think I made a mistake, Arthur."_

"_What do you mean?" he replied, his suspicion hiking up a notch. It wasn't in the normal for Dom Cobb to admit he had made a mistake. "Is Mal with you? Where are the kids?"_

"_No. Mal's not with me." Though Arthur was the over-explanation man in the friendship, Cobb didn't usually spurt out short answers. He'd never say anything to hide the truth in some way. This was the first time he had talked like this with Arthur, and it seemed to become a habit. _

"_Well, where is she?" Arthur asked, wondering why in the world Dom would come to him in his time of need when that's exactly what Arthur believed people would get married for. A built-in support system to boost your ego. _

_It sounded like there was a gust of wind through the line. "Mal's dead."_

"_What?"_

"_Dead."_

"_Yes, I understand that, but how?" Arthur now stepped out of the coffee house he had spent his morning in, hoping that he could get by without anyone eavesdropping. The street was busy and he wasn't sure how comfortable he was with where this conversation was going. He took a sharp turn down an ominous alley with limited sunlight._

"_She jumped out of a window."_

"_A window?" She jumped out of a window. So he was telling him that Malorie Cobb committed suicide? The woman who was voted Most Determined in High School? Who wrote her own vows so that she could explain to her husband just how much she wanted to live with him forever? The woman who loved her children till the end of time? Arthur just couldn't believe that the woman who had such zest for life would end it._

"_Well, pushed herself off the ledge, really," Cobb said solemnly, as if thinking to himself. _

_There was a stir behind the dumpster and Arthur begrudgingly found himself face to face with a homeless man with wild eyes and a beard filled to the brim with bits of food and bugs. Arthur glanced down at his designer wardrobe, suddenly regretting his decision to enter the alley way. _

"_Anyway," Cobb continued as Arthur slowly backed out of the dark niche. "I really have no way to get a legitimate job, so I was thinking I would need to put a team together."_

"_Wait," Arthur started, joining civilization once again without being confronted by the grotesque man in the shadows. "What do you mean you can't get a legitimate job?" He was growing tired of the half answers._

"_Not legally anyway. So what do you say?"_

"_Say to what?" Arthur yelled, letting his frustrations overpower him. A group of old women glared at him. "Yes, I was talking to you!"_

"_Being a part of my team so we can perform extraction for corporations and wealthy old men with nothing better to do. How about it?"_

_Arthur was about to ask how he could ask him to just drop everything and run, but then it sunk in that he had nothing to drop. His parents would be fine without him and Will was busy trying to sleep with every woman in New York. The only problem was Lizzie, but she would understand. He sighed._

"_Where are you?"_

_Arthur stepped off the plane in London, unsure of what to do or where to go. He wasn't familiar with the geography and he wasn't supposed to meet Cobb until the next morning. Having far too much pride to ask where a good hotel was for the night, he decided to look for a pub, have a drink, and maybe watch some sports or meet a lady. _

_As he practically fell back against the bench with his third bottle of beer nearly gone, all grief of Mal, one of his closest friends, were also nearly gone. Really, the only thing on his mind was the possibility of getting as much alcohol into his bloodstream as fast as he could._

_He was on his fifth bottle when she walked in, though his tolerance was so high he was just beginning to be affected. _

_She was wearing a red dress that didn't deserve the title. It was smaller than a towel, barely covering the essentials, seemingly bought at an 'Adult Apparel' store. Her blonde hair cascaded around her shoulders in slight waves, the shortness making her chest appear even larger. Not teetering once in her ten inch higher-than-hooker-heels, she spotted her target. Arthur._

_He wasn't what she usually went for, but tonight was for going outside the box, finding someone new. She cocked her head to the side, studying Arthur. He, for one, hadn't noticed the blonde bimbo who sauntered in, rather focusing on the bench across the table from him. She decided that the suit get-up was hot, sexy even. Most of the guys she spent her time with weren't usually up to her standards, but always up for a booty call. Ready for a bright, new, future, she made her way over to the booth._

"_Hey," she said, sliding into the bench across from the dazed pointman. "I'm Aemelia." _

Arthur shuddered as the unwanted memory of Aemelia popped into his head. He picked up the phone for the last time that night and hit the number nine on his speed dial before he could let himself back down.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

"Hey-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y, man! This is Will on my cellular device dude. If you're calling to accept me for an modeling gig thing, then leave a message. Actually, if you're anyone, leave a message. Wait, don't. I don't think that I'll actually call back. Later!"

"Really?" Arthur yelled. He called two times more before giving up and calling someone he wanted to talk to even less that his younger brother.

"Hello, Arthur, dear."

"Hello." He paused, but he didn't feel like being chastised. "Mother."

"Sweetheart, it's so wonderful to hear from you. We've missed you so much! How is Paris? Is it beautiful? How are Eames and his darling sister?" Karen misinterpreted her son's silence and followed with, "Oh, er, and that Ariana girl."

"Ariadne."

"Right, Ariana. Now, tell me, Arthur, how is everything going?"

Arthur tried to remember a time when his mother actually wanted to know the truthful answer to that question. He had no time to elaborate, anyway. The longer he talked to her, the sooner she'd know Fancy was with him and he didn't need her insanity. "I was actually wondering if Will was somewhere around?"

"Yes, he is, but sweetie, can't we talk? I feel like when you met that girl you forgot about your mother. Aemelia would've never done such a thing. Let's talk."

"I'd love to, but I really need to talk to Will." _And you won't want to talk to me after I talk to him. Bonus._

There was a sigh. "I do wish you realized how much it hurts your poor mother when you push her away like this. I mean, maybe if I was some awful mother, I'd understand, but I gave you so much as a child, so many opportunities. I bet you would hardly care if we never spoke again."

"Stop it. It's serious that I talk to Will. Now."

"More proof. Fine. Here's your brother."

"Yooooooooooo!"

A wave of irritation washed over Arthur. "Will."

"Artie? Hey dude! What's up?"

"What's up?" Had he really not noticed the lack of his wife? "What's up is that Fancy is here right now."

There was shuffling on the other line followed by a distinct slam of a door. "She's with you? You found her?"

So he had noticed. "I didn't find her she ran away. You royally screwed up, Will."

"It wasn't my fault! Chelsea and Kaitlyn-"

"Save it . You need to tell me what you're planning to do to fix it."

"I don't know, Artie! How do I get her back?"

"Will, she's pregnant."

"I mean, I know that…" His voice cut off and Arthur wondered momentarily if the call had been dropped. "She's pregnant?"

"Yes, and…" Arthur's line beeped, signaling another call. He looked at the screen. Ariadne. She could wait. If it was an emergency, she'd call again. "And she's incredibly hurt."

"I don't see why I have to apologize when she is pregnant."

"I don't see how that makes sense anywhere in your mind. Since you obviously have no clue, I'm going to give it to you straight. Fancy is drop dead gorgeous. She was a _French Supermodel _so far out of your league that you couldn't even see her. She left her family, job, and home to be with an idiot like you. You cheat on her with two ten-cent whores with no looks, talent, or personality. She fled back to Paris, her home, and is now staying with your brother, pregnant with _your _child. She's only twenty and she can't raise a baby on her own. You need to get your self together and apologize like the man you're supposed to be."

"But-"

"You need to figure this out on your own and make it up to the woman of your dreams. Goodbye Will."

Arthur hit end, having no real idea of whether he made things better or exasperated the problem. Hoping to get some sleep, he retreated to his room. As he was just settling under the covers, his phone rang again. Ariadne.

"Yes Ariadne?"

"Hi hi hi hi hi hi hi Arthur!" Ellen practically yelled on the other line. "How are you doing?"

"Ellen, why do you have Ariadne's phone?"

"Oh, she's in the shower silly. You should totally join her! She'd love it. She's only been in love with you since your guys's trip to LA. She's like, HEAD. OVER. HEELS. You don't even understand how much she loves you. Come, join her in the shower."

"Ellen, have you been drinking?" Arthur asked, not letting her words sink in.

"Oh, you're so silly Arthur! Ooooooooh, Arthur, Ariadne's here noooow. Hey Aria, are you in a towel? Why are you in a towel? Hey, Arthur! Wanna talk to Ariadne? She's like, in a towel. It's pink. She hates pink. Pink is so cute though. I loooove it. But you should talk to Ariadne. And then fall in love with her! Omg, and then you can totally have a double wedding with me and Tom! It'd be sooo much fun, right? I'll call him right now on my phone while you talk to your lover on hers. Kay? Kay!"

"Hello?" Ariadne's voiced filled his ear.

"Is Ellen drunk?"

"Uhm, yes. Well, she was. Now she's knocked out on the floor."

"Gotcha."

"What exactly did she say before I got in the room?"

Arthur thought. "Oh, nothing important."

"Alright…I guess I'll go to bed now."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Arthur."

He tried to let her words leave his mind as he drifted off to sleep.

**I'm not going to even talk about the chapter because I feel SO. SO. SO. SO. SO. bad right now. The last time I updated was in March. MARCH. As in, FOUR MONTHS AGO. How can time go by like that? I am SO sorry you guys.**

**It will NEVER happen again, okay?**

**Update on my life: My birthday, prom, school getting out, roadtrip, spent time in Seattle where I'm from, done. **

**I'm SO sorry and to those of you who are sticking with my even though I suck entirely and reading this right now, I APPRECIATE YOU TO THE END OF THE WORLD. **

**Thank you so much for those many, many, many story and author alerts I received in the past few months and those many, many, many reviews I received on the past chapter and the story in it's entirety.**

**Thank you for not giving up on me and please tell me how you like this chapter.**

**I love you.**


	13. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello my lovelies, and a happy New Year!

For those of you who see this, bless your heart and I am so incredibly sorry for the length I've been away from this site.

Work, school, family, friends, lack of inspiration, life all get in the way and I'm sorry to have left you hanging. One of my New Year's Resolutions (that I've made for the first time ever this lovely 2013) is to write more. My best friend and I were reminiscing over Extraction, and going through our entire notebook for it.

We decided we'd touch back and start this up again. But, alas, the direction this went is not exactly where I'd like it to be.

I'm starting over. Not from scratch, per se, but we're changing some things. The characterization will be a little bit more precise, and some of the plot will twist. We're keeping Karen, Will, Arthur Sr., Lizzie, Fancy, Ellen, Tom, and Amelia, but their personalities will be a bit tweaked in some cases.

Anyway, to wrap things up, Extraction is coming back, and it's coming back _better_.

I will post another author's note on this one when the first chapter is done.

Once again, thank you all so much for your wonderful attitude and I appreciate it one hundred percent.

Thanks so much,

Rachel

Ps. This should be up in a week or so. If it's not, please nag me about it. I need deadlines.

You're all fabulous.


	14. REVISED STORY UP

Hello Again!

The first re-done chapter of this is now posted!

This will be up until my next chapter is up, but then I'm taking it down after that.

Thanks so much, my lovelies!

Happy Reading!

-Rachel


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